8. Open Access Policy

Purpose

The Pakistan Journal of Gastroenterology (PJG) is committed to the principles of open-access publishing and the unrestricted dissemination of high-quality scientific knowledge. The Journal believes that immediate, free, and permanent access to research promotes scientific advancement, improves clinical practice, and enhances global knowledge sharing.

The Journal supports equitable access to scholarly literature without financial, legal, or technical barriers for readers.

8.1 Open Access Model

The Journal operates under a Gold Open Access publishing model.

All published articles are made freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication without subscription fees or paywall restrictions.

Readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to published articles without charge, subject to the terms of the applicable publication license.

8.2 Reader Access

The Journal provides unrestricted access to all published content.

Readers may:

Read articles free of charge.
Download full-text articles.
Print published articles for personal or educational use.
Share article links.
Cite published work.
Use articles for lawful scholarly purposes in accordance with the applicable license.

No registration or subscription is required to access published content.

8.3 Author Rights

Authors retain the copyright to their published work unless otherwise stated under the Journal's licensing agreement.

By publishing in the Journal, authors grant the Journal a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, and disseminate the article.

Authors may:

Share the published article through institutional repositories.
Deposit the accepted or published version in recognized repositories, subject to the Journal's licensing terms.
Share the article for educational and research purposes.
Include the article in theses, dissertations, or academic portfolios with appropriate citation.

8.4 Accessibility and Dissemination

The Journal encourages the widest possible dissemination of published research through:

Journal website.
Institutional repositories.
Academic search engines.
Indexing and abstracting services.
Digital archiving platforms.
Scholarly communication networks.

Open access supports increased visibility, citation, and impact of published research.

8.5 Licensing

All published articles are distributed under the license specified by the Journal at the time of publication.

The applicable license determines how published content may be reused, shared, adapted, or reproduced.

Authors and readers should refer to the Journal's License to Publish and Copyright Notice for additional details.

8.6 Publication Charges

Information regarding Article Processing Charges (APCs), publication fees, waivers, or sponsorship is available in the Journal's Journal Business Model or Author Guidelines.

Where applicable, publication charges are clearly disclosed before manuscript submission.

8.7 Long-Term Preservation

The Journal is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of published articles through appropriate digital archiving and preservation services.

Where applicable, the Journal may participate in recognized archiving initiatives and maintain secure electronic records to preserve the scholarly record.

8.8 Editorial Independence

The Journal's open-access publishing model does not influence editorial decisions.

Editorial evaluation, peer review, acceptance, and publication decisions are based solely on:

Scientific quality.
Originality.
Methodological rigor.
Ethical compliance.
Relevance to the Journal's scope.

Authors' financial status or ability to pay publication charges, where applicable, does not influence editorial decisions.

8.9 Compliance

By submitting a manuscript, authors acknowledge and agree that, upon acceptance, their article will be published under the Journal's Open Access Policy and applicable publication license.

References

This policy has been developed in accordance with:

Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Principles of Transparency and Best Practice.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations.