Open Access Policy of the Publishing House of the AWSGE University of Applied Sciences in Józefów

The AWSGE Publishing House supports open science, broad and lasting access to research results, and the lawful reuse of publications. This Policy sets out the rules on access, licensing, copyright, repositories, funding and archiving. It applies to publications covered by the Open Access model in accordance with the publishing agreements.

The Publishing House publishes both open-access works and works made available on other terms. Most scientific publications are available electronically free of charge, without the need to log in. Under the Gold Open Access model, the final published version is made publicly available without an embargo. Free reading access alone does not automatically confer the right to adapt or further distribute a work: the scope of permitted use derives from the licence of the specific publication.

For publications covered by the relevant agreements, the Publishing House applies the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). It permits copying, distribution, adaptation and commercial use, provided that authorship is attributed, changes are indicated and derivative works are shared under the same or a compatible licence. No additional restrictions inconsistent with the licence may be imposed.

The author retains moral rights, and the rules governing economic rights derive from the agreement. Third-party materials may be excluded from the licence and must be appropriately marked.

The full texts of open-access publications are available free of charge, without registration and without restrictions based on the user’s affiliation, at least in PDF format. Each publication must clearly state the type of licence, the copyright holder, the date of publication and any exclusions. Use in accordance with the licence does not require separate permission.

The Publishing House supports the deposit of permitted versions of works in institutional and subject repositories. Authors may deposit published versions licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 in accordance with the terms of the licence, providing full bibliographic details, the ISBN, the original source and a link to the website of the Publishing House.

The description of a publication includes the title, authors or editors, affiliations, date of publication, publisher, ISBN, abstract, keywords, information on rights and the licence, and a link to the full text. Where possible, metadata in English and persistent identifiers are provided. The Publishing House may apply for inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) if it meets the requirements of that database; this does not mean automatic indexing.

Open Access publications are subject to the same scholarly and ethical standards as other publications. Each scientific monograph is sent to at least two independent external reviewers in accordance with the procedure of the Publishing House. Neither the source of funding nor any fee affects peer review or the publishing decision.

Costs may be covered by the University, grants, projects and other sources provided for in agreements. The terms of funding and any fees for the preparation of a publication are disclosed before the publishing process begins. Reader access to Open Access publications remains free of charge.

The Publishing House secures files and metadata, maintains a catalogue of publications and develops solutions that enable long-term access. It seeks to archive publications in external repositories and to ensure persistent links. Detailed technical solutions and responsibility for backups need to be implemented and documented.

Publications issued before the adoption of this Policy are governed by the relevant agreements and licences. Extending open access to them requires verification of rights; the mere availability of a free file on the Internet does not confer a Creative Commons licence. This Policy supplements the Publishing Policy, is subject to periodic review and applies from its approval and publication.