Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access Policy

Editorial Policies

Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access Policy

Overview

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to the principles of open-access scholarly publishing and the broad dissemination of high-quality research. The journal ensures that all published articles are freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication without subscription fees, registration requirements, or paywalls. By removing barriers to access, RSCSL promotes the unrestricted exchange of scholarly knowledge and enhances the visibility, accessibility, citation, and societal impact of research in criminology, sociology, law, criminal justice, forensic science, public safety, governance, and related interdisciplinary disciplines.

RSCSL follows internationally recognized open-access publishing standards by allowing readers to access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, cite, link to, and reuse published articles in accordance with the journal's licensing policy.

 

Copyright Policy

Authors publishing in the Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) retain full copyright ownership of their scholarly work.

As a condition of publication, authors grant RSCSL a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to:

  • Publish the article in print and electronic formats;
  • Reproduce, archive, preserve, and distribute the published work;
  • Include the article in indexing services, repositories, databases, and scholarly information systems;
  • Promote and disseminate the published work through academic and professional communication channels;
  • Preserve the integrity of the scholarly record while recognizing the authors as the copyright holders.

Because the publishing license is non-exclusive, authors remain free to exercise their copyright without restriction, provided that appropriate acknowledgment is given to the original publication in RSCSL.

 

Author Rights

Authors retain the right to:

  • Maintain copyright ownership of their published work;
  • Reuse all or part of their work in future books, dissertations, theses, reports, policy papers, teaching materials, or other scholarly publications;
  • Deposit the published Version of Record in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, or other trusted archives;
  • Share the published article through personal websites, institutional webpages, academic networking platforms, and scholarly repositories;
  • Present and distribute the published work for educational, research, professional, and non-commercial or commercial purposes in accordance with the applicable license;
  • Receive appropriate attribution whenever their work is reused.
The journal does not require authors to transfer copyright ownership as a condition of publication.
 

Open Access Policy

RSCSL operates as a fully Open Access journal.

Accordingly:

  • All published articles are freely available immediately upon publication;
  • Readers may access the complete text of all articles without charge;
  • No subscription or registration is required to access published content;
  • No embargo period is applied;
  • Articles remain permanently accessible online.

The journal believes that unrestricted access to scholarly research promotes knowledge exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based policymaking, legal scholarship, education, professional practice, and global scientific advancement.

 

Licensing

All articles published by RSCSL are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

License information is available at:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Under the CC BY 4.0 License, users are free to:

Share

  • Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
  • Download and distribute published articles;
  • Incorporate published material into educational resources, policy documents, legal scholarship, and professional training.

Adapt

  • Remix, transform, translate, and build upon the published material;
  • Create derivative works;
  • Use the material for research, education, commercial, governmental, or other lawful purposes.

These permissions are irrevocable provided that users comply with the terms of the license.

 

License Conditions

Users reusing RSCSL content must comply with the following conditions.

Attribution

Users must:

  • Give appropriate credit to the original author(s);
  • Cite RSCSL as the original source of publication;
  • Provide a link to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License;
  • Clearly indicate whether modifications have been made.

Attribution must not imply that the original authors or the journal endorse the user or the reuse of the material.

No Additional Restrictions

Users may not apply legal, contractual, or technological measures that restrict others from exercising the rights granted under the CC BY 4.0 License.
 

Reader Rights

Readers may freely:

  • Read published articles;
  • Download and store articles;
  • Print or distribute published works;
  • Cite and reference articles;
  • Reuse, adapt, translate, and build upon published material;
  • Incorporate published content into teaching materials, legal analyses, policy documents, systematic reviews, scholarly publications, professional training, and other lawful applications.

No additional permission from the authors or the publisher is required for uses permitted under the CC BY 4.0 License.

 

Third-Party Material

Authors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material included in their manuscripts has been used lawfully.

Where third-party content is not covered by the article's Creative Commons license, authors must:

  • Obtain appropriate permissions before publication;
  • Provide proper acknowledgment;
  • Clearly identify any restrictions governing reuse.
Users wishing to reuse third-party materials must comply with any applicable copyright restrictions imposed by the original copyright holder.
 

Repository and Self-Archiving Policy

RSCSL encourages the wide dissemination of published research.

Authors may deposit the published Version of Record in:

  • Institutional repositories;
  • Subject-specific repositories;
  • University archives;
  • Government repositories;
  • Personal websites;
  • Academic networking platforms;
  • Other non-exclusive scholarly repositories.

Authors are encouraged to include:

  • The complete citation to the published article;
  • The Digital Object Identifier (DOI), where applicable;
  • A link to the journal website.
No embargo period applies to self-archiving.

Commitment to Open Scholarship

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is dedicated to advancing open scholarship by removing barriers to access, promoting responsible knowledge sharing, and supporting the widest possible dissemination of high-quality research. Through author-retained copyright, publication under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, and a fully open-access publishing model, RSCSL enhances global collaboration, increases research visibility, and ensures that scholarly outputs remain freely available to researchers, educators, legal practitioners, criminologists, sociologists, policymakers, public administrators, criminal justice professionals, and the broader international community.

 

Alignment with International Standards

This Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access Policy has been developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles of open-access publishing, copyright management, and responsible scholarly communication and is aligned with:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – Guidance on copyright, licensing, publication ethics, editorial transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing:
    https://publicationethics.org/
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, including requirements for clear copyright ownership, open-access licensing, author rights, and licensing transparency:
    https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

RSCSL periodically reviews and updates this policy to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards for open-access publishing, copyright management, publication ethics, editorial transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.

ttps://doaj.org/apply/guide/"> https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

 

RSCSL periodically reviews and updates this policy to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards for open-access publishing, copyright management, publication ethics, editorial transparency, and responsible scholarly communication.