Copyright, Licensing, Open Access and Permissions

Open Christian Press seeks to make knowledge lawfully accessible while protecting authors, readers, research participants, communities and third-party rights holders. Copyright and open access are not opposites. Copyright establishes legal ownership and responsibility, while an appropriate licence explains how others may use the work.

The terms applying to a particular publication are stated on its official OJS or OMP record and in the publication itself. Where a conflict arises, the signed publishing agreement and the licence displayed on the version of record govern.

Author rights

Unless a specific agreement provides otherwise, authors retain the moral right to be identified as creators of their work and remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and lawful use of all submitted material. The Press requires sufficient publishing rights to edit, reproduce, distribute, preserve, index and promote the accepted work.

Authors should read the applicable agreement carefully before publication. Questions concerning rights should be resolved before files are released.

Open-access licensing

Open-access works are published under a clearly identified licence. The preferred licence for many scholarly publications is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) because it permits lawful sharing and adaptation with attribution. A different Creative Commons licence may be used when justified by the publication type, funder requirement, author agreement or rights restrictions.

A licence should never be inferred from the fact that a PDF can be downloaded. The licence statement on the publication record determines permitted reuse.

Commercial and restricted editions

Some books may combine an openly accessible digital edition with commercial print, e-book or enhanced editions. Other works may be sold without an open-access edition where rights, production costs or contractual arrangements require that model. Availability and permitted uses are stated transparently.

Third-party material

Authors are responsible for identifying material that they did not create, including photographs, figures, tables, maps, scales, instruments, long quotations, song lyrics, archival materials and adapted illustrations. Written permission may be required even when a source is cited.

Permissions must cover the intended formats, territories, languages, duration and distribution channels. The Press may request documentary evidence and may remove material where rights are uncertain.

Author manuscript sharing

Journal authors may share accepted or published versions only in accordance with the journal's policy, licence and publishing agreement. Book authors should consult the specific contract before posting complete manuscripts, chapters or production files.

Where deposit is permitted, the record should identify the version, cite the version of record and include its DOI.

Requests to reuse Open Christian Press content

Where the displayed licence already permits the proposed use, separate permission is not required provided all licence conditions are satisfied. Where the use falls outside the licence, a request should identify:

·       The Open Christian Press publication and DOI

·       The exact material to be reused

·       The proposed new work and publisher

·       Format, language, territory and expected distribution

·       Whether the use is commercial

Author warranties

By submitting a work, authors confirm that they have authority to submit it, that it does not unlawfully infringe another person's rights and that all necessary permissions have been secured. Authors must disclose material previously published elsewhere and any contractual restriction that could affect publication.

Rights enquiries

Rights and permissions enquiries should be sent through the Contact page. Please do not send confidential manuscripts or identity documents through an ordinary website form.