Copyright, Licensing Information, and other relavant content material information.
Document version 1.1. 09/12/2024.
Copyright and License Terms
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES operates under a model that balances author rights with open access publication:
- Copyright Ownership/transfer: Authors retain full copyright of their work. The copyright ownership is not transferred to the journal.
- Publication Rights: Authors grant the journal right of first publication and ongoing non-exclusive rights to publish, distribute, and archive the work.
- Open License: The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), allowing both the journal and others to share and adapt the work with proper attribution.
This arrangement ensures that:
- Authors maintain control over their intellectual property
- The journal can effectively publish and distribute the work
- The scientific community can freely access and build upon the research
- All parties' rights are protected while maximizing the work's impact and reach
Open Access Policy
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES operates under a Platinum Open Access model, making all research immediately and permanently accessible to researchers and the public worldwide. This commitment ensures that both readers and authors face no financial barriers to accessing or publishing research.
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which allows unrestricted access and reuse of content while ensuring proper attribution to the original authors. Our publishing costs are sustainably covered through institutional support, grants, and community donations, allowing us to maintain high-quality scientific publishing while keeping it free for all stakeholders.
This means:
- Everyone has free and unlimited access to the full text of all articles published in the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, with no subscription fees or access barriers
- Authors retain full copyright of their work while granting the journal publishing rights. They may freely deposit any version of their work in institutional or subject repositories
- Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts of all articles, including for commercial purposes
- No special permission is required to reuse all or part of articles published by the SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, including figures and tables. Users must follow these attribution requirements:
- Cite the original article following standard academic practices
- Include a link to the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
- Indicate if any changes were made to the original material
- Our policy aligns with major research funder requirements and Plan S principles for open science
- For questions about our Open Access Policy or reuse permissions, please contact us at southbchem@gmail.com. While no special permission is needed for reuse under CC BY 4.0, we are happy to provide guidance on proper attribution and usage.
This policy underscores our dedication to advancing scientific knowledge through unrestricted access and reuse of research, while maintaining the highest standards of academic publishing and proper attribution to authors.
Embargo Policies
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES maintains a strict no-embargo policy, which means all published research is made immediately available to readers worldwide from the moment of publication. We do not impose any waiting period or delay in access to our published content.
In practical terms, this means that as soon as an article completes the peer review process and is published online, it becomes instantly accessible to everyone – researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and the general public. This immediate availability applies to the full text of articles as well as any supplementary materials.
Our no-embargo policy aligns with our commitment to Platinum Open Access publishing and the principles of rapid knowledge dissemination. Authors can immediately:
- Share their published work through any channels
- Archive their articles in institutional or subject repositories
- Distribute their findings through academic networks
- Use their research in teaching and presentations
- Share their work on social media and other platforms
This unrestricted and immediate access helps accelerate scientific discovery and ensures that important research findings reach their intended audiences without delay. The absence of an embargo period also supports authors in complying with various funder mandates that require immediate open access to research outputs.
For any questions about our no-embargo policy, please contact the journal editorial office.
Repository Guidelines
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES supports the sharing and long-term preservation of research through approved repositories. To ensure readers access the most accurate and final version of published works, we encourage authors to deposit the final published version (Version of Record) in both institutional and subject-specific repositories.
Article Versions and Timing
While authors may share different versions of their article, we strongly recommend depositing the final published version:
- Final Published Version (recommended): The journal's official PDF/XML version, which includes all corrections, formatting, and metadata. This version should be deposited after publication and represents the authoritative Version of Record.
- Author's accepted manuscript: The peer-reviewed version before final publication may be deposited if required by institutional policies.
- Preprint version: Early versions may be shared in preprint repositories, but we encourage updating these with links to the final published version once available.
The journal automatically deposits the final published version in our partner repositories to ensure proper preservation and access. Authors are encouraged to use this version for any additional repository deposits.
Recommended Repositories
We recommend depositing the final published version in these established repositories:
General Purpose Repositories:
- Zenodo (our preferred general repository due to its long-term preservation guarantees)
- Institutional repositories at universities and research institutes
- figshare (when institutional repositories are not available)
Subject-Specific Repositories:
- Life Sciences: GenBank, PDB
- Physical Sciences: arXiv
- Social Sciences: ICPSR
Repository Requirements
Selected repositories should meet these criteria to ensure proper preservation of the final published version:
- Provide persistent identifiers (such as DOIs) for deposited items
- Maintain clear version control and identify the Version of Record
- Ensure long-term preservation of deposited materials
- Support proper academic citation linking back to the original publication
- Offer free and open access to deposited content
Data Availability
For research data supporting your published article:
- Data should be deposited in appropriate repositories before final publication
- Include clear data availability statements in your final manuscript
- Link data deposits to the final published version of your article
- Follow our citation guidelines for data references
Special Considerations
When sharing sensitive or protected data:
- Human subject data must be anonymized and shared in compliance with ethical approvals
- Proprietary data may have restricted access, but metadata should be publicly available
- Environmental data should include location information unless protected species are involved
The journal's editorial office is available to provide guidance on repository selection and proper version depositing procedures. We strongly encourage authors to maintain consistency across repositories by using the final published version whenever possible.
Funder Compliance Policy
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES is committed to helping authors comply with their funders' requirements for research dissemination and open access. Our Platinum Open Access model and immediate publication policy naturally align with most funder mandates for open science.
How We Support Funder Requirements
Our publishing practices support compliance with major research funders by providing:
- Immediate open access to all articles without any embargo period
- Free publication without article processing charges (APCs)
- Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licensing for maximum reuse rights
- Automatic deposit of published articles in designated repositories
- Support for data sharing and preservation requirements
Common Funder Requirements We Support
Our policies align with requirements from various funding bodies, including:
- Immediate open access to published research
- Long-term preservation of research outputs
- Clear licensing terms allowing broad reuse
- Public access to research data
- Proper acknowledgment of funding sources
Author Responsibilities
To ensure compliance with funder requirements, authors should:
- Clearly acknowledge their funding sources in the manuscript
- Include any relevant grant numbers or project identifiers
- Notify the journal of any specific funder requirements during submission
- Ensure their data sharing approach meets funder requirements
- Retain copies of compliance documentation
Documentation Available
We provide authors with documentation to demonstrate compliance:
- Publication certificates confirming open access status
- License documentation for reuse rights
- Repository deposit confirmations
- Data availability statements
For questions about how our policies align with specific funder requirements, please contact the journal's editorial office. We are committed to helping authors navigate funder compliance while maintaining the highest standards of academic publishing.
Data Sharing Policy
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES supports open science through transparent data sharing practices. This policy outlines our requirements for making research data available to the scientific community. This policy is beeing recomended by the journal in this format since 2025.
Requirements
Authors must make the research data supporting their published articles available unless there are compelling reasons for restrictions. The data sharing statement should be included in the manuscript under section "5.6 Data Availability" of the template. If the data was included in the article, there is no need for this statement. If not, this statement must clearly indicate:
- Where the data can be accessed
- How other researchers can obtain the data
- Any conditions for data reuse
Acceptable Repositories
Research data should be deposited in one of these repository types:
- General-purpose repositories: Zenodo, figshare
- Institutional repositories maintained by universities
- Domain-specific databases appropriate to the research field
Data Formats
To ensure long-term accessibility and reuse, data should be shared in:
- Non-proprietary formats when possible (e.g., CSV instead of Excel)
- Common file formats widely used in the research field
- Formats that include necessary metadata for interpretation
Retention Periods
Authors must ensure that research data remains available for at least five years from the date of publication. We recommend depositing in repositories that guarantee long-term preservation of data.
Exceptions
Data sharing exceptions may be granted for:
- Personal data that cannot be fully anonymized
- Proprietary data with commercial restrictions
- Information about endangered species locations
- Data restricted by legal or ethical requirements
Authors seeking exceptions must explain their reasons in the data availability statement. The journal editors will evaluate exception requests during the review process.
For questions about data sharing requirements or assistance with selecting appropriate repositories, please contact the journal's editorial office.
Preprint Policy
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES focuses exclusively on publishing final, peer-reviewed research articles. We have made a deliberate choice not to engage with preprints as part of our commitment to publishing thoroughly vetted, high-quality scientific work in its final form.
Our publication model centers on the traditional peer review process, where manuscripts undergo careful evaluation before being published. We believe this approach best serves our research community by ensuring that all published content has been thoroughly reviewed and validated through established academic procedures.
For authors considering submitting to our journal:
- Please submit your original manuscript directly to the journal
- Focus on preparing your work for formal peer review
- Follow our standard submission guidelines detailed in the Author Guidelines section
Digital Preservation
The SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES content is preserved through:
- Portico - Digital preservation service ensuring long-term access to scholarly content
- National Library of Brazil (BN) - Physical preservation of print media at the Fundação Biblioteca Nacional (FNB)
Author Rights
As an author, you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain full copyright of their work. The authors grant two types of rights: (1) the journal receives first publication rights and ongoing non-exclusive rights to publish, distribute, and archive the work; and (2) the work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), allowing others to share and adapt the content with proper attribution.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work
Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
Under the CC BY license, users (redistributors) of this journal's content are required to cite the original source, including:
- Author names
- SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES as the initial source of publication
- Year of publication
- Volume number
- DOI (if available)
What are users allowed to do?
The CC BY license permits any user to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. (sharing rights)
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Questions about Reuse
If you have any questions about reusing content from SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, please contact our editorial office at: southbchem@gmail.com