Copyright and Publishing Agreement

By submitting an article (the "Article") to International Journal of Medical Sciences (the "Journal") published by Ivyspring International Publisher Pty Ltd (the "Publisher"), the submitting author, on behalf of all authors of the Article if more than one, agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. The term “Authors” means the sole author or, where applicable, all co-authors of the Article.

Author Warranties

The Authors represent and warrant that:

the Article is original and has not been previously published in substantially the same form, except as disclosed to the Journal and permitted under the Journal's policies;
the Authors own the copyright in the Article or otherwise have the authority necessary to enter into this Agreement and grant the rights described below;
the data, figures, code, and findings presented in the Article are authentic, free from fabrication, falsification, or deceptive manipulation, and conform to standard scholarly publishing ethics;
the Article does not infringe any copyright, privacy, confidentiality, proprietary, or other rights of any person or entity;
all necessary permissions have been obtained for the reproduction and publication of any third-party material contained in the Article, including text, figures, photographs, illustrations, tables, and other content;
any third-party material that is not authorised for distribution under the Creative Commons licence applicable to the Article is clearly identified as such; and
the Article contains no defamatory, doxxing, or otherwise unlawful material.

Copyright and Licence to the Publisher

If the Article is accepted for publication, the Authors grant the Publisher the exclusive right of first publication. Upon publication, the Authors grant the Publisher a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence for the full term of copyright to publish, reproduce, distribute, communicate, display, host, archive, index, format, and otherwise disseminate the Article, in whole or in part, in all languages and media formats now known or later developed.

This licence includes the right to deposit, index, archive, preserve, and make the Article available through third-party platforms and repositories (including PubMed Central), and to authorize such platforms to host, reproduce, and distribute the Article for those purposes.

The Authors retain their moral rights in the Article, including the right to be identified as its authors. To the extent permitted by law, the Authors consent to the Publisher making reasonable editorial and production adjustments necessary for publication—including copyediting, formatting, typesetting, translation, and metadata conversion—provided such changes do not materially alter the meaning or conclusions of the Article.

The Authors retain copyright of the Article, subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Licence section described below.

Creative Commons Licence

Upon publication, the Authors agree that the Article will be made publicly available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0), except for third-party material expressly identified as subject to separate copyright or licensing terms. The Authors authorise the Publisher to publish the Article accompanied by an open access notice referencing this licence and the Publisher's Terms of Use (https://ivyspring.com/terms).

The Authors acknowledge that downstream reproduction, distribution, adaptation, and reuse of the Article content are governed by the CC BY 4.0 licence. However, access to, retrieval of, and interaction with the Article through the Journal’s website, third-party platforms (including PubMed Central), and Publisher infrastructure remain separately subject to the Publisher’s Terms of Use.

In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these terms, policies, or third-party platform agreements (including PubMed Central rules):

The Publisher's Terms of Use shall prevail regarding site access, user conduct, platform security, automated retrieval, liability limitations, and editorial non-endorsement and other disclaimers.
The applicable Creative Commons publication licence shall prevail solely regarding the downstream reproduction, distribution, adaptation, and reuse of an individual article.

Editorial and Publication Decisions

The Authors acknowledge that decisions concerning peer review, acceptance, rejection, editing, correction, retraction, and publication of the Article are made by the Journal and Publisher in accordance with their editorial policies and applicable publication standards.

Submission of an Article does not create any obligation on the Journal or Publisher to accept or publish it.

Publication Fees and Refunds

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any applicable article processing or publication fee becomes non-refundable once copyediting or production has commenced. Withdrawal, retraction, correction, or removal of an Article does not entitle the Authors to a refund of any article processing charges or publication fees.

Withdrawal, Retraction, and Removal After Publication

Once an Article has been published, the Authors do not have the right to withdraw or remove it from the Journal or from any archive, repository, indexing service, or third-party platform in which it has been deposited. Any request for correction or retraction will be considered by the Journal and Publisher in accordance with applicable editorial policies, publication ethics standards, repository policies, and applicable law.

The Authors acknowledge that permanent archives and repositories, including PubMed Central (PMC), retain published or retracted articles in accordance with their own governance policies and that the Publisher does not have the authority or obligation to remove such articles from third-party systems.

Retraction or removal of an Article from the Journal's website does not revoke, invalidate, or terminate any Creative Commons licence or other rights previously granted to downstream users in relation to copies of the Article that were distributed prior to such retraction or removal.

Indemnity

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Authors agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Publisher, the Journal, and their respective employees, editors, and representatives from third-party claims, liabilities, losses, and reasonable legal costs arising directly from a material breach by the Authors of the representations, warranties, or obligations contained in this Agreement.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Journal, the Publisher, and their respective employees, editors, and representatives shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive loss or damage arising out of or in connection with the submission, review, publication, distribution, or use of the Article or the Journal's services, whether or not advised of the possibility of such loss or damage.

Nothing in this Agreement limits any right, remedy, or liability that cannot lawfully be limited under Australian law.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Agreement is governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. The Authors submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and any courts in Australia competent to hear appeals from those courts.

Joint Authorship and Authority

Where the Article has more than one author, the submitting author represents and warrants that they have been authorised by all co-authors to submit the Article and enter into this Agreement on their behalf.

The submitting author further confirms that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version of the Article, that the author list and stated author contributions are accurate and complete, and that all Authors are aware of and agree to the submission and, if accepted, publication of the Article under the terms of this Agreement.