COPYRIGHT POLICY

The Link journal of Speech, Language and Audiology (JSLA) respects and protects authors’ intellectual property rights and recognizes that authors should retain ownership of their scholarly work. Accordingly, all authors publishing in JSLA retain full ownership of their articles, while the journal applies publishing and dissemination rights only to the extent required to publish, preserve, and index the scholarly record.

Author Copyright Ownership

Authors retain 100% copyright of their articles published in JSLA. Upon acceptance and publication, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive right to publish, archive, reproduce, and disseminate the work in all formats used by the journal and through lawful indexing, aggregation, and preservation services. This arrangement means the author remains the legal copyright holder, the author may reuse the article in future scholarly or professional works, and the journal’s rights are limited to publishing the Version of Record and keeping it accessible as part of the permanent scholarly record. JSLA does not require authors to transfer copyright as a condition of publication.

License for Publication

All articles in JSLA are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this licence, others may share, copy, redistribute, adapt, and build upon the work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided that proper attribution to the author(s) and citation to the original publication in JSLA are maintained, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Author Rights After Publication

After publication, authors may share and reuse their work without requesting additional permission from the journal, provided that the original publication in JSLA is properly cited and the CC BY 4.0 terms are respected. Authors may deposit the submitted version (preprint), accepted version (postprint), and the published Version of Record in institutional repositories, subject repositories, and personal or departmental websites. Authors may also incorporate their article into books, theses, dissertations, and teaching or training materials, and may share the article through scholarly networking platforms and professional channels. Authors remain free to present the work at conferences, seminars, and professional meetings while maintaining accurate citation to the published article.

Third-Party Copyright

Authors are responsible for obtaining appropriate written permission for any copyrighted third-party material included in a submission, such as figures, images, tables, questionnaires, tools, scales, or substantial excerpts, unless that material is already licensed for reuse in a manner compatible with the intended use. Where third-party content is included, authors must ensure that the manuscript contains a clear credit line identifying the source and, where applicable, the license terms or permission statement governing that material. If third-party material is not covered by CC BY 4.0, this must be explicitly indicated to prevent unintended reuse beyond the granted permissions.

Copyright Notice Display

JSLA ensures that a clear copyright and licensing notice is displayed at the article level to support transparency, reuse clarity, and indexing requirements. Each article page and the published PDF include a copyright statement indicating that copyright is retained by the author(s) and that the work is published under CC BY 4.0, along with the year of publication and the journal name. This notice is presented in a consistent manner across article landing pages and full-text formats so that readers and downstream services can reliably identify the licensing terms.

Publisher Responsibilities

JSLA, as published by Link Medical Interface (Private) Limited, is responsible for maintaining the integrity and availability of the scholarly record. The journal ensures long-term preservation of published content through its preservation arrangements, maintains accurate attribution to authors, and does not alter an author’s content after publication except through clearly documented correction mechanisms and standard publishing practices. Where post-publication updates are necessary such as corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions JSLA follows established ethical and editorial best practices to ensure transparency, traceability, and fairness to all parties.

Protection Against Misuse

JSLA takes appropriate action in cases of plagiarism, unauthorized republication, systematic scraping, impersonation, or other forms of misuse that compromise authors’ rights or the integrity of the journal. Where credible concerns are identified, the journal may issue formal notices, request removal from infringing platforms, and notify relevant hosting services or indexing providers as appropriate. These actions are undertaken to protect authors’ rights and the reliability of the scholarly record, while recognizing that author ownership remains fully intact under applicable copyright principles and international norms.