For submitting a paper using the online submission system users must register themselves with the journal as authors. Only users with author role can submit materials to the journal.

1. It is a requirement of by law of the International Journal Publishers Group that every paper presented to the International Journal Publishers Group and accepted for publication and the copyright therein shall be the property of the International Journal Publishers Group.

2. The copyright of the paper must be assigned to the International Journal Publishers Group by means of the Publication Agreement and Assignment of Copyright.

3. Where the author(s) is/are employed by the Crown, or if for any other reason the Crown has any rights in the paper, then having regard to the provision of the Copyright, Designs and Patents, the author(s) must obtain permission to publish from the Controller of HM Stationery Office. Other consents may also be required.

4. In the U.S.A. copyright protection is not available for ‘works of the U.S. Government’ i.e. a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties, or on behalf of the U.S. Government. Such work can be freely copied in the U.S.A., and copyright in it cannot be claimed by a publisher. Similar provisions may apply to work done by Government employees in other countries.

5. The corresponding author affirms that if the copyright of the work is owned by the author(s), the Agreement should be signed and dated by the author(s). (The author(s) assert(s) to the International Journal Publishers Group that he/she/they has/have the moral right to be identified as the author(s) of the work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents).

6. The corresponding author affirms that if the copyright of the work is owned by the organization which employs the author(s) or which has commissioned the work on which the paper is based, an authorized representative of that organization should sign and date the Agreement. (Note that when a work is made by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is the owner of any copyright in the work, but subject to any contractual variation of this position, agreed between the employer organization and the employee author(s).)

7. If it is not possible or impracticable for all authors to sign the ‘Statement of Originality’ and the ‘Publication Agreement and Assignment of Copyright’, the corresponding author may sign on their behalf. In doing so, the signatory confirms that all authors have given their permission for the signatory to act on their behalf.

8. The organization in assigning the copyright in the paper gives no warranty expressed or implied that the paper is free from defamatory matter, nor that the paper does not infringe the rights of any third party.

9. The organization warrants that it:

a) has advised the author(s) of his/her/their responsibilities to avoid defamation or infringement of third party rights, and

b) will notify the International Journal Publishers Group of any adverse claim that comes to its knowledge prior to publication.

10. Nothing in the Agreement shall in any way affect any agreement which the organization may have with any of its employees or others performing work for or on its behalf.

11. The author(s) and/or the organizations for whom the work was performed shall be entitled:

a) to retain all proprietary rights other than the copyright such as patent rights;

b) to reproduce figures and extracts from the paper with proper acknowledgement to the International Journal Publishers Group;

c) to reuse all or portions of the paper in other works with proper acknowledgement to the International Journal Publishers Group;

d) without payment to make and have made copies of the published paper for his/her/their/its own purposes but not for sale, provided that no reference is made to the International Journal Publishers Group in any manner which implies endorsement by the International Journal Publishers Group of any product the organization manufacturers or in which it deals.

12. If the International Journal Publishers Group declines to publish the paper, the copyright in the paper will remain with the original copyright owner(s). If the paper is accepted for publication but is not published within a reasonable time after acceptance, the copyright owner(s) will have the right to require the International Journal Publishers Group to reassign the copyright in the paper to the original owners.