Technical Report Press (TRP) is committed to supporting open scholarly communication while protecting the rights of authors and respecting the intellectual property rights of third parties. This policy explains the copyright status of articles published by TRP, the licensing terms under which published content may be reused, and the responsibilities of authors when using material owned by others.
Author Rights and Open Licensing
For all articles published by Technical Report Press (TRP), copyright remains with the author(s), unless otherwise stated in a specific journal policy or publication agreement. TRP does not require authors to transfer copyright as a condition of publication.
TRP publishes articles as open access, normally under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), unless an individual journal or article states otherwise.
Under the CC BY 4.0 license, users may read, download, copy, distribute, display, adapt, translate, and reuse the work in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that:
- the original author(s) are properly credited;
- the original source of publication is cited;
- a link to the CC BY 4.0 license is provided; and
- any changes, adaptations, or modifications are clearly indicated.
This licensing model is intended to maximize the visibility, accessibility, dissemination, and reuse of published research while ensuring that authors receive appropriate recognition and attribution for their work.
License to Publish
By submitting and publishing with TRP, authors grant TRP the right to publish, distribute, archive, index, preserve, and make the article publicly available in electronic and/or print form. This permission allows TRP to maintain the published version of record and ensure the long-term accessibility of the scholarly record.
Authors retain the right to reuse, share, deposit, translate, adapt, and distribute their own published work, provided that the original publication in the relevant TRP journal is properly cited.
Alternative Licenses
In exceptional cases, a different license may be required due to funder requirements, institutional policies, legal restrictions, third-party rights, or other justified circumstances.
Authors who require an alternative license must inform the editorial office at the time of submission. Requests for license exceptions are considered on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by TRP before publication.
No alternative license will be applied after publication unless there is a clear legal, ethical, or administrative reason to do so.
Use of Third-Party Material
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all material included in their manuscript may lawfully be published under the applicable open access license. This includes text, figures, tables, photographs, diagrams, charts, illustrations, maps, datasets, and any other content reproduced or adapted from third-party sources.
TRP cannot publish copyrighted third-party material unless one of the following conditions applies:
- the material is in the public domain;
- the material is available under a compatible open license;
- the author has obtained written permission from the copyright holder;
- the use is clearly lawful under applicable copyright exceptions; or
- the material has been newly created by the author without infringing third-party rights.
Authors must provide documentation of permission or licensing status when requested by the editorial office.
Material Requiring Permission
Permission is normally required for the reuse of:
- previously published material where the author does not hold copyright or reuse rights;
- substantial portions of text from any source;
- tables, figures, diagrams, charts, illustrations, artworks, maps, or photographs reproduced as originally published;
- lightly modified versions of previously published figures or tables;
- content reproduced from books, journals, websites, commercial databases, reports, or other copyrighted sources;
- the author’s own previously published work where copyright was transferred to another publisher.
Authors should not assume that citation alone is sufficient permission to reproduce copyrighted material.
Material That May Not Require Permission
Permission may not be required in certain cases, such as:
- newly created tables or summaries based on published data, provided that the original data source is properly cited;
- brief quotations used for scholarly purposes, where permitted by applicable law and accompanied by appropriate citation;
- figures, diagrams, or tables that are fully redrawn, substantially transformed, and do not reproduce the original copyrighted expression;
- material that is clearly in the public domain;
- material already published under a compatible open license, provided that the license terms are followed.
Even where permission is not required, authors must still cite the original source of the idea, data, or information.
Rules concerning quotation, fair use, fair dealing, and copyright exceptions vary by jurisdiction. When there is uncertainty, authors are advised to obtain permission or use openly licensed material.
Obtaining Permission
Authors should request permission as early as possible, preferably before submission or during the revision stage, to avoid delays in publication.
When obtaining permission, authors should:
- identify the correct rights holder, which is often the original publisher;
- request written permission for reuse in an open access article;
- ensure that the permission allows online publication and distribution under the applicable TRP license, preferably CC BY 4.0;
- retain copies of permission letters, emails, or license confirmations;
- provide documentation to TRP if requested.
If the rights holder provides specific wording for acknowledgement, the author must follow that wording exactly.
Acknowledgement of Reused Material
All reused or adapted material must be clearly acknowledged in the manuscript. Acknowledgements should appear in the relevant figure caption, table note, footnote, or reference, as appropriate.
Suggested wording includes:
“Reproduced with permission from [Author/Source], [Title], [Publisher], [Year].”
or:
“Adapted from [Author/Source], [Title], [Publisher], [Year], with permission.”
For openly licensed material, authors should include the license information, for example:
“Adapted from [Author/Source], licensed under CC BY 4.0.”
Where material has been modified, adapted, translated, or redrawn, this must be clearly stated.
Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of copyright declarations, permission statements, acknowledgements, and license information in their manuscripts. Submission of a manuscript to TRP confirms that the authors have obtained all necessary permissions and that publication of the manuscript will not infringe the rights of any third party.
If a copyright concern is identified before publication, TRP may request revision, replacement of the material, additional permission documentation, or removal of the material. If a copyright concern is identified after publication, TRP may issue a correction, remove or replace the affected material, add a rights notice, or take other appropriate action in accordance with its editorial and publication ethics policies.
No Endorsement
Reuse of TRP-published content does not imply endorsement by TRP, the journal, the editors, reviewers, editorial board members, or the original author(s). Users are responsible for ensuring that any reuse is accurate, lawful, properly attributed, and not misleading.