Open Access Statement

The Annals of Proteomics and Bioinformatics (APB) firmly supports the principles of open science and open access publishing. Every article published in APB is freely available to readers worldwide without any subscription or paywall barriers, immediately upon publication. The journal’s open access model ensures that scientific knowledge in proteomics, bioinformatics, and interdisciplinary life sciences can be accessed, reused, and distributed to accelerate innovation and collaboration globally.

APB follows the Gold Open Access publishing model — where authors retain copyright and published content is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Open Access Policy

Under the Gold Open Access model, all articles published by APB are immediately and permanently free for anyone to read, download, copy, distribute, print, or reuse in any medium, provided that the original authors and source are properly cited. This policy ensures transparency, promotes reproducibility, and allows the scientific community to build upon previously published work without restrictions.

Open access helps break down barriers between disciplines and geographic regions, encouraging wider participation in scientific discovery and education. APB’s commitment to open access aligns with global initiatives such as the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), the Berlin Declaration, and Plan S principles for research accessibility.

Copyright Retention

Authors publishing in APB retain full copyright of their work. Upon acceptance, authors grant the publisher a non-exclusive license to publish and disseminate the article. This means that authors can freely archive, share, or reuse their articles in institutional repositories or on personal websites, provided that proper attribution is given to APB as the original source of publication.

Licensing Terms

License Type: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This license allows users to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially;
  • Attribute — users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

For full legal terms, visit the official license page at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Benefits of Open Access

  • Ensures free and immediate access to published research for scientists, clinicians, educators, and the public.
  • Increases citation rates and enhances global visibility of authors’ work.
  • Facilitates data sharing and reproducibility in the fields of proteomics and bioinformatics.
  • Supports cross-disciplinary collaboration and educational reuse.
  • Complies with funding agency mandates and global research dissemination requirements.

APB’s open access policy reflects its commitment to equity in scientific communication, ensuring that researchers from low- and middle-income countries have equal access to knowledge without financial or institutional restrictions.

Article Processing Charges (APC)

To sustain the open access publishing process, APB applies a moderate Article Processing Charge (APC) that covers costs related to peer review management, production, digital archiving, and indexing. There are no submission or color figure charges. Authors who face financial constraints may apply for fee waivers or discounts according to the journal’s Waiver Policy.

The APC policy is transparent and ensures that all articles remain freely accessible to readers while maintaining rigorous editorial and technical standards.

Repository and Self-Archiving Rights

APB fully supports author self-archiving. Authors may deposit any version of their paper — preprint, accepted manuscript, or final published version (PDF) — in institutional or subject repositories immediately upon publication. The deposited version must include citation details and the DOI of the published article.

The journal’s policies align with SHERPA/RoMEO green and blue archiving categories, ensuring full compliance with institutional mandates and funder requirements.

Compliance with Funder Mandates

APB complies with the open access requirements of major research funding agencies such as the NIH, Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and others. Articles are deposited in recognized open repositories to ensure fulfillment of public access mandates and grant policies.

Long-Term Preservation and Accessibility

All APB articles are preserved through multiple trusted archiving services, including Portico, LOCKSS, and the PKP Preservation Network (PN). These systems guarantee perpetual availability of content even in the event of technological or organizational disruptions.

Persistent DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) and open metadata standards (CrossRef, OAI-PMH) further ensure long-term discoverability and interoperability across indexing platforms.

Ethical and Legal Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted content complies with copyright laws and third-party license agreements. Proper acknowledgment of data sources, software, and figures from other publications is required under the CC BY 4.0 framework.

Any material reproduced from other works must include permissions and citations. The editorial office reserves the right to remove or modify content violating these terms.

Transparency and Accountability

The journal’s open access policy is periodically reviewed to reflect evolving standards of scholarly publishing and data ethics. Updates are announced on the journal website and communicated to the research community to maintain full transparency.

Contact Information

For any questions regarding APB’s open access policy, licensing, or copyright terms, please contact:

© 2025 Annals of Proteomics and Bioinformatics (APB) · Heighten Sciences Publication Incorporation

Source Reference: Developed in accordance with DOAJ, COPE, and Creative Commons open-access policies.