The Public Health Journal explicitly states that the copyright for all scholarly articles published within this journal remains with the respective authors. This policy is a cornerstone of our commitment to publication ethics and the proper recognition of researchers' intellectual contributions in the field of public health. While authors retain their copyright, by consenting to publication in the Public Health Journal, they simultaneously grant the journal the right of first publication. This means the Public Health Journal serves as the initial and official platform for introducing the work to the public, but fundamental control over the intellectual property itself remains with its creators. In this way, we ensure that the authors' original efforts and ideas are duly valued and protected.
Furthermore, as an integral part of our open access model, by publishing an article in the Public Health Journal, authors also agree that their work will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). The granting of this license permits anyone to copy, distribute, display, and perform the copyrighted work and derivative works based on the article. The main condition is that users must provide proper attribution to the original authors. This statement explicitly informs users that while authors hold full copyright, they have consciously chosen to share their work widely under the condition of attribution, thereby encouraging broader dissemination and use of public health knowledge without unnecessary restrictions.
This copyright notice also serves as an official declaration for all individuals or institutions accessing and using content from the Public Health Journal. It clarifies that, although the journal facilitates open access and dissemination, commercial use or adaptations without proper attribution constitute a violation of the license terms and the authors' copyright. The Public Health Journal expects all users to respect these terms to uphold academic integrity and publication ethics. Thus, this copyright statement supports an open, responsible, and intellectually respectful scholarly publishing ecosystem within the realm of public health.
