Open Access Statement

The Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Research (APJCR) is firmly committed to open access, ensuring that all published research is freely accessible to the global scientific community and the public without financial, legal, or technical barriers. The journal believes that open access to research is essential for accelerating the discovery, dissemination, and application of scientific knowledge, particularly in cancer research, where timely access to information can directly impact patient care, policy-making, and further research advancements.

 

Principles of APJCR's Open Access Policy:

1. Free and Immediate Access to Research:

  • Unrestricted Access: All articles published in APJCR are made available to everyone immediately upon publication, with no subscription fees or paywalls. This ensures that researchers, clinicians, policy-makers, and the general public can access the full text of articles without any restrictions. By removing financial barriers, APJCR promotes the widest possible dissemination and application of research findings.

 

2. Licensing Under Creative Commons:

  • CC BY-NC License: APJCR operates under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license, which permits users to share, copy, distribute, and adapt the published work, provided that they give appropriate credit to the original authors and do not use the work for commercial purposes. This license balances between protecting the authors' rights and promoting the free knowledge exchange.
  • Author Retention of Rights: Authors retain the copyright to their work, allowing them to reuse and disseminate their research as they see fit. This policy empowers authors to maximize the impact of their work while ensuring that their intellectual property is protected.

 

3. Supporting Author and Reader Rights:

  • Empowering Authors: By providing open access, APJCR supports authors in disseminating their work to a global audience. Authors are encouraged to share their published articles widely, including depositing them in institutional repositories, sharing them on personal websites, or distributing them via social media. This unrestricted sharing helps increase the visibility and citation of their research.
  • Global Reach and Inclusivity: Open access ensures that APJCR's research is accessible to researchers and institutions worldwide, regardless of their financial resources. This inclusivity is particularly important in global health challenges like cancer, where access to the latest research can drive improvements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care.

 

4. Enhancing Visibility and Impact:

  • Increased Citations and Engagement: Open-access articles are more likely to be cited, shared, and discussed than those behind paywalls. By making research freely available, APJCR enhances the impact of its published work, contributing to the global advancement of cancer research and increasing the journal's influence in the scientific community.
  • Promotion of Research Findings: APJCR actively promotes its open-access articles through indexing in major academic databases, collaboration with repositories, and engagement with the broader scientific community via digital platforms. This ensures that the research reaches a wide and diverse audience, fostering collaboration and innovation.

 

5. Commitment to Ethical Publishing:

  • Transparency in Licensing: APJCR is committed to transparency in its open access policy. The journal communicates its licensing terms, publication ethics, and authorship guidelines to ensure that all stakeholders are fully informed. This transparency fosters trust and credibility in the journal's publishing practices.
  • Compliance with Funder Mandates: The journal's open-access model complies with the mandates of research funders who require the work they support to be freely available. This ensures that authors can meet the requirements of their funding agreements while also contributing to the open dissemination of knowledge.

 

6. Long-Term Preservation and Accessibility:

  • Digital Archiving: To ensure that all published content remains accessible and preserved for future generations, APJCR participates in digital archiving initiatives such as LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and CLOCKSS (Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe). These programs create permanent archives of the journal's content, safeguarding it against loss and ensuring its availability in perpetuity.
  • Continuous Access: APJCR is committed to maintaining continuous and uninterrupted access to its published content. The journal's website is designed to be user-friendly and accessible, allowing readers to easily navigate, search, and access articles from any location and on any device.

 

7. Open Access in the Context of Global Health:

  • Addressing Regional Health Challenges: As a journal specifically focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, APJCR recognizes the critical importance of making research accessible to address the unique health challenges that populations in this area face. Open access ensures that researchers and healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings can access the latest findings, which is essential for improving the region's cancer outcomes.
  • Facilitating Collaboration: By making research freely available, APJCR fosters international collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and public health professionals. This collaborative approach is vital for tackling global health issues like cancer, where sharing knowledge and expertise can lead to more effective interventions and policies.