Open Access, Copyright and Archiving

Sustainable Trends and Business Research (STBR) is firmly committed to the principles of open scholarly communication and the unrestricted dissemination of academic knowledge. The journal operates under a fully open access publishing model to ensure that high-quality research is freely accessible to the global academic community, practitioners, policymakers, and the public without financial, legal, or technical barriers.

STBR recognizes that transparent licensing, clear copyright policies, and sustainable archiving mechanisms are essential components of responsible academic publishing. The following policy outlines the journal’s framework regarding open access, copyright ownership, licensing terms, and publication charges.

STBR is a fully open access journal. All articles are made immediately and permanently available online upon publication, without subscription fees or access restrictions.

Under this open access model:

• Readers may access the full text of all published articles free of charge.
• No embargo periods are applied to any version of the published work.
• Access does not require registration, institutional login, or payment.

The journal supports the global exchange of knowledge and aims to remove financial barriers that may limit access to scholarly research. By adopting a fully open access model, STBR promotes academic inclusivity and equitable access to research findings across geographic and institutional boundaries. This open access policy applies to all articles published in the journal, regardless of the authors’ institutional affiliation or geographic location.

Authors who publish in STBR retain full copyright of their work. The journal does not require authors to transfer exclusive ownership of their intellectual property.

Upon acceptance of a manuscript, authors grant STBR a non-exclusive right of first publication. This permits the journal to:

• Publish the article as the official Version of Record;
• Distribute the article electronically;
• Archive the article as part of the permanent scholarly record;
• Index and disseminate the work through recognized databases and repositories.

Because the license granted to STBR is non-exclusive, authors retain broad rights to reuse and distribute their work. Authors may:

• Share the published version of the article on personal or institutional websites;
• Deposit the article in institutional repositories or subject-specific repositories;
• Distribute copies for teaching, academic presentations, or research purposes;
• Reuse portions of the work in future scholarly publications, provided proper citation to the original STBR publication is included.

STBR does not claim ownership of authors’ intellectual property beyond the rights necessary for publication and dissemination.

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

Full license details are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Creative Commons framework is administered by Creative Commons and provides a standardized mechanism for legally sharing scholarly content.

Under the CC BY 4.0 license:

• Users may copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Users may remix, transform, and build upon the material.
• Both commercial and non-commercial reuse is permitted.
• Proper attribution to the original author(s) and STBR must be provided.
• A link to the license must be included.
• Any changes made to the original work must be clearly indicated.

The CC BY 4.0 license ensures maximum dissemination and reuse of published research while safeguarding author attribution rights. No additional legal or technical restrictions are imposed beyond those specified in the license. This licensing framework aligns with international open access standards and supports compliance with funder mandates and repository requirements.

STBR does not charge submission fees, processing fees, publication fees, or article processing charges (APCs).

The journal operates on a no-fee model for authors. There are:

• No charges at submission;
• No charges during peer review;
• No charges upon acceptance;
• No publication fees.

This policy reflects STBR’s commitment to equitable access to scholarly publishing opportunities and ensures that authors are not excluded from publication based on financial considerations. The absence of APCs does not affect the rigor of the peer review process, editorial standards, or publication quality. All submissions undergo the same independent editorial evaluation regardless of the authors’ financial or institutional status.

STBR fully supports the dissemination of scholarly research through institutional and subject-based repositories. Consistent with its open access principles and the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, authors are permitted to deposit and share various versions of their manuscripts without embargo.

Authors may deposit:

• The submitted manuscript (preprint),
• The accepted manuscript (postprint),
• The final published version (Version of Record),

in institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal academic webpages, or recognized scholarly networking platforms.

When depositing or sharing any version of the article, authors must ensure that:

• Proper citation to the published Version of Record in STBR is clearly included;
• The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is provided to ensure accurate citation and linking;
• A reference to the CC BY 4.0 license is maintained.

STBR does not impose embargo periods on repository deposits. The journal supports compliance with funder open access mandates and institutional archiving requirements.

Each article published in STBR is assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to ensure persistent identification and long-term discoverability.

STBR registers DOIs through membership with Crossref, an official DOI registration agency for scholarly publications.

The DOI:

• Provides a stable and permanent link to the Version of Record;
• Facilitates accurate citation and referencing;
• Enables integration with indexing and abstracting services;
• Supports metadata dissemination across digital scholarly platforms.

By maintaining DOI registration through Crossref, STBR ensures that published articles remain reliably identifiable within the global scholarly communication ecosystem.

Long-term preservation of scholarly content is essential to maintaining the integrity of the academic record. STBR is committed to ensuring the permanent accessibility and preservation of its published articles. The journal utilizes the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) for editorial workflow management and digital hosting infrastructure.

Digital preservation measures include:

• Participation in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which provides distributed preservation of journal content;
• Routine server backups and system redundancy;
• Archiving of metadata and content through Crossref infrastructure.

These mechanisms are designed to protect published content against data loss and ensure continued access to the scholarly record.

STBR periodically reviews its open access, copyright, and archiving policies to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards in scholarly publishing, digital preservation, and research accessibility.

The journal is committed to maintaining transparency in its licensing terms, author rights, and archiving practices. Any updates or revisions to this policy will be publicly communicated on the journal website.

Through its open access framework, copyright retention model, CC BY 4.0 licensing, and digital preservation mechanisms, STBR ensures that published research remains:

• Freely accessible,
• Legally reusable,
• Properly attributed,
• Permanently archived.

Through these policies, STBR reaffirms its commitment to transparency, accessibility, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal remains dedicated to upholding international open access standards and ensuring the long-term integrity and availability of the academic record.