Open Access Policy

Journal: Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP)

Policy Version: 1.0

Effective Date: June 2026

1. Open Access Commitment

Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP) is a fully Open Access journal.

All articles published in the journal are made freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication.

Readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to published articles without subscription fees or registration barriers, subject to the terms of the applicable Creative Commons license.

The journal supports the principles of open science, global knowledge dissemination, and unrestricted access to scholarly research.

2. Gold Open Access Model

JCP operates under a Gold Open Access publishing model.

Under this model:

• all published content is freely available immediately upon publication;
• no subscription is required for access;
• articles are published under an open license;
• authors retain copyright of their work.

The journal does not impose embargo periods.

3. Access Rights

Readers are permitted to:

• read articles free of charge;
• download and save articles;
• share articles with colleagues and students;
• include links to published articles;
• reuse content in accordance with the article's license.

No permission from the publisher is required for uses permitted under the applicable Creative Commons license.

4. Article Processing Charges (APCs)

To support editorial management, peer review administration, production, hosting, and long-term preservation, the journal may charge an Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted manuscripts.

APCs are charged only after a manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication.

Submission of a manuscript does not require payment.

Peer review and editorial decisions are conducted independently of the author's ability to pay.

5. Editorial Independence

The payment or waiver of APCs has no influence on editorial decisions.

Acceptance, revision, or rejection decisions are based solely on:

• scientific quality;
• originality;
• methodological rigor;
• relevance to the journal scope;
• compliance with publication ethics.

Editorial decisions are made independently of financial considerations.

6. Waivers and Discounts

The journal may offer APC waivers or discounts in selected circumstances, including:

• invited articles;
• Editorial Board members;
• special promotional programs;
• authors with demonstrated financial need;
• other cases approved by the Editorial Office.

The availability of waivers or discounts does not influence editorial evaluation.

7. Long-Term Accessibility

The journal is committed to maintaining long-term access to published content.

Published articles remain freely accessible through the journal website and associated scholarly infrastructure.

Where applicable, article metadata and DOI records will remain permanently available.

8. Open Science Principles

JCP encourages authors to support open science practices, including:

• sharing research data;
• providing access to code and software;
• depositing supplementary materials in trusted repositories;
• promoting transparency and reproducibility.

Further guidance is available in the journal's Data Availability Policy.

9. Relationship to Other Policies

This policy should be read together with:

• Copyright & Licensing Policy
• Data Availability Policy
• Publication Ethics Policy
• Peer Review Policy

10. Contact

Questions regarding Open Access publishing may be directed to:

Editorial Office

Joining and Corrosion Protection (JCP)

Email: jcp@sunlitpub.com