Open Access Policy
Overview
GACOPA Medical Journal is committed to advancing medical research by providing open access to its content. All articles published in the journal under Open Access Option will be freely available to readers worldwide, ensuring that high-quality, peer-reviewed research can be shared and accessed by healthcare professionals, researchers, and the general public, without financial barriers.
Open Access Model
The journal follows a Gold Open Access model, meaning all articles are made immediately and permanently accessible online at the time of publication. All content published is freely downloadable, and readers do not need any subscription or registration to access it.
Article Processing Charges (APC)
To support the open access publishing model, GACOPA Medical Journal applies an Article Processing Charge (APC) to authors. The APC covers the costs of editorial and production processes, and is payable upon acceptance of an article. The charges vary depending on the article type and length, but the APC will always be transparently listed on the journal’s website.
Current APC under Open Access Options
- Lower and Middle Income Countries USD 200
- High Income Countries USD 400
Waiver Policy:
- Authors from low- and middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank) may apply for an APC waiver or reduction.
- For specific cases such as young researchers, early-career scientists, or underrepresented groups, we offer a discretionary APC reduction or waiver upon request.
- We offer waiver for ordinary and associate members of the Association in good standing (who have no outstanding financial obligation to GACOPA). Such categories may request with specific proof of membership and clearance from the Secretary General of the Association
Licensing
All articles published by GACOPA Medical Journal will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This allows for the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction of the articles in any medium, provided that the original authorship is properly attributed.
Archiving and Repository Policy
- All published content will be deposited in global open-access repositories and indexed in relevant databases, ensuring broad dissemination and visibility.
- Authors retain copyright over their work but grant the journal the right to publish the article under the chosen license. This ensures authors have full control over their content while making it widely accessible.
Peer Review Process
All articles submitted to GACOPA Medical Journal undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure scientific accuracy, integrity, and quality. This peer review is conducted by experts in the respective fields, and the reviewers are also encouraged to consider the ethical, clinical, and practical implications of the research.
Data Sharing and Transparency
- Authors are encouraged to share their research data in public repositories where appropriate. This helps promote transparency, reproducibility, and further research.
- Data availability statements should be included in the publication, explaining where and how the underlying data can be accessed, or why sharing is not possible.
Ethical Considerations
GACOPA Medical Journal adheres to ethical guidelines in medical publishing, ensuring that all published content complies with the highest standards of research ethics. This includes the requirement for authors to disclose conflicts of interest, obtain appropriate patient consent where applicable, and adhere to ethical guidelines for clinical trials.
Long-Term Access and Preservation
To ensure the long-term preservation of published content, the journal has partnered with trusted digital archives and repositories. Articles will be accessible for the long term, and efforts will be made to prevent content from being lost due to technological changes or other disruptions.
Promotion of Open Science and Collaboration
In addition to providing open access to articles, GACOPA Medical Journal actively promotes collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and healthcare professionals. The journal will host events, webinars, and forums for open discussions and knowledge-sharing in the medical field.
Exceptions and Modifications
GACOPA Medical Journal reserves the right to modify this Open Access Policy as needed. Any changes will be communicated clearly to authors, readers, and the scientific community to ensure transparency.
This means readers can access published content for free, without paying a subscription charge. Open access articles of the GACOPA Medical Journal is labeled and accessible at a click by anyone worldwide and distributed under a Creative Commons open access license.
