License Statement
Policy Number: TGM-LS-001
Version: 1.0
1. INTRODUCTION
The Gazette of Medicine (TGM) is the official peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). The Journal is committed to promoting the unrestricted dissemination of high-quality biomedical research while protecting the intellectual property rights of authors.
To facilitate the widest possible access, use, sharing, and reuse of published scholarly work, all articles published in TGM are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise indicated.
This licence supports TGM's commitment to open science, knowledge sharing, and the advancement of healthcare, medical education, and biomedical research at the national and international levels.
2. OFFICIAL LICENCE
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all content published in The Gazette of Medicine (TGM) is distributed under the:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence
This licence permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, translation, and commercial use of published material in any medium or format, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the Journal.
The full licence is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
3. RIGHTS GRANTED UNDER THE LICENCE
Under the CC BY 4.0 Licence, users are free to:
Read: Access all published articles without subscription or payment.
Download: Download articles in full for personal, educational, research, or professional use.
Copy: Make copies of published articles in any format.
Print: Print articles for personal, institutional, or educational purposes.
Share: Distribute articles electronically or in print.
Redistribute: Redistribute published works through repositories, websites, libraries, databases, and other platforms.
Adapt: Modify, transform, or build upon the published work.
Translate: Translate articles into other languages.
Reproduce: Reproduce figures, tables, images, and other published materials, subject to any third-party copyright restrictions.
Commercial Use: Reuse published materials for commercial purposes, provided appropriate attribution is maintained.
4. CONDITIONS OF THE LICENCE
Users exercising the rights granted by this licence must comply with the following conditions:
Attribution
Appropriate credit must be given to:
· The author(s)
· The Gazette of Medicine (TGM)
· The original publication
The citation should include, where applicable:
· Author name(s)
· Article title
· Journal title
· Volume
· Issue
· Year of publication
· Page numbers (if applicable)
· Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Licence Notice
Users must provide a link to the CC BY 4.0 Licence.
Indication of Changes
Where the published work has been modified, translated, adapted, or otherwise altered, users must clearly indicate that changes have been made.
No Additional Restrictions
Users may not apply legal or technological measures that restrict others from exercising the rights granted under the licence.
5. AUTHOR COPYRIGHT
Authors publishing in TGM retain the copyright to their work.
Authors grant TGM a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence to:
· Publish the article.
· Identify itself as the original publisher.
· Archive the work permanently.
· Distribute the published version.
· Index the article.
· Preserve the scholarly record.
· Promote the published work.
Because the licence is non-exclusive, authors remain free to use their work in accordance with the terms of the CC BY 4.0 Licence.
6. AUTHOR RIGHTS
Authors retain the unrestricted right to:
· Share published articles.
· Deposit articles in institutional repositories.
· Upload articles to personal websites.
· Archive articles in subject repositories.
· Include articles in theses and dissertations.
· Reproduce figures and tables.
· Use articles for teaching.
· Present articles at conferences.
· Incorporate published work into books or future publications.
· Translate their work.
No additional permission from TGM is required for these activities.
7. RIGHTS OF READERS
Readers may:
· Read articles free of charge.
· Download articles.
· Print articles.
· Share articles.
· Cite published work.
· Include articles in educational materials.
· Archive articles.
· Reuse articles in accordance with the CC BY 4.0 Licence.
No subscription or registration is required to access published content.
8. THIRD-PARTY MATERIAL
Some articles may contain material that is not covered by the CC BY 4.0 Licence, including:
· Photographs
· Figures
· Tables
· Maps
· Clinical instruments
· Questionnaires
· Images
· Multimedia
· Illustrations
where the copyright belongs to a third party. Such material shall carry an appropriate copyright notice.
Permission for reuse must be obtained directly from the respective copyright holder unless otherwise permitted by law.
9. REPOSITORY DEPOSIT
The CC BY 4.0 Licence permits authors and institutions to deposit published articles in:
· Institutional repositories
· University repositories
· Government repositories
· National repositories
· Subject repositories
· ResearchGate
· Academia.edu
· ORCID records
· Google Scholar profiles
· Funding agency repositories
Authors are encouraged to cite the published Version of Record and include the article DOI.
10. EDUCATIONAL USE
Published articles may be freely used for:
· Classroom teaching
· Medical education
· Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
· Continuing Medical Education (CME)
· Student assignments
· Academic presentations
· Workshops
· Conferences
· Professional training
without obtaining additional permission, provided proper attribution is given.
11. RESEARCH USE
Researchers may:
· Cite articles.
· Incorporate findings into systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
· Reproduce figures and tables with attribution.
· Mine published data.
· Conduct text and data mining.
· Build upon published findings.
12. COMMERCIAL USE
Commercial entities may reuse published materials under the CC BY 4.0 Licence provided they:
· Credit the original authors.
· Credit TGM as the original publisher.
· Maintain attribution.
· Clearly identify modifications where applicable.
No separate commercial licence is required.
13. PERMISSION REQUESTS
No permission is required for uses permitted under the CC BY 4.0 Licence.
Permission may be required only when:
· Third-party copyrighted materials are involved.
· The intended use exceeds the rights granted by the applicable licence.
· Separate copyright notices apply.
Requests should be directed to the copyright holder or the TGM Editorial Office, as appropriate.
14. DISCLAIMER
The CC BY 4.0 Licence applies only to the copyright in the published work.
The licence does not imply:
· Endorsement by TGM.
· Endorsement by ARD-UPTH.
· Endorsement by the Editorial Board.
· Endorsement by the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.
· Endorsement by the authors.
Users remain responsible for ensuring that reuse complies with applicable laws, ethical standards, and any third-party rights.
15. LICENCE CHANGES
The licence applicable to an article is fixed at the time of publication and shall not be altered retrospectively without compelling legal or ethical justification. Future changes to the Journal's licensing policy shall apply only to subsequently published content unless otherwise stated.
16. COMPLIANCE
All authors, readers, institutions, repositories, libraries, and third-party users are expected to comply with the terms of this Licence Statement. Failure to comply with licence conditions may constitute copyright infringement and may result in appropriate legal or administrative action.
17. CONTACT INFORMATION
Editorial Office
The Gazette of Medicine (TGM)
Journal of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH)Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Email: [Insert Official Journal Email]
Website: [Insert Official Journal Website]
18. SUGGESTED LICENCE NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION
The following statement should appear on the first page of every published article:
Licence Statement
© The Author(s) [Year]. Published by The Gazette of Medicine (TGM), Journal of the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (ARD-UPTH).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, and commercial reuse in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
19. REFERENCES AND GUIDING STANDARDS
This Licence Statement is based on internationally recognized standards and best practices, including:
1. Creative Commons. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence.
2. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Core Practices.
3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
4. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
5. Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).
6. Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.
7. Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing.
8. Crossref. Best practices for persistent identifiers and scholarly metadata.
9. Nigerian Copyright Act, 2022 (as amended).
10. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
Appendix A: Recommended Website Display
To ensure transparency and compliance with international indexing standards (e.g., DOAJ, AJOL, Scopus, and PubMed Central, where eligible), the following concise licence notice should be displayed prominently on the TGM website:
Open Access and Licence
The Gazette of Medicine (TGM) is an open-access journal. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence. Authors retain copyright while granting TGM a non-exclusive licence to publish and preserve their work. Readers and other users are free to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, adapt, and reuse the content for any lawful purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the Journal, a link to the licence is included, and any changes made are clearly indicated.
Recommendation: If TGM intends to apply for indexing in DOAJ, AJOL, Scopus, and PubMed Central, adopting the CC BY 4.0 licence (rather than more restrictive Creative Commons licences) is the preferred option because it maximizes compliance with international open-access best practices and funder requirements.
