Purpose
LMDAJ exists to provide a medium for the international dissemination of research findings from Liberia and the wider West African subregion, and to promote cooperation among medical researchers in Africa and elsewhere. Research that cannot be found, read and reused by the clinicians, students, ministries and researchers who need it cannot serve that mission. This policy explains how LMDAJ content can be accessed, who holds copyright, which licences apply, and how authors with limited funding are supported.
Our access principles
- Access for the people who need the evidence. Health workers and researchers in Liberia and other low-resource settings are LMDAJ’s first readers. Cost should not be a barrier to reading our research. A free account is all that is needed.
- Equity in publishing. Ability to pay must not be a barrier to publishing in LMDAJ. Editorial decisions are made independently of any fee or waiver status.
- Authors keep their rights. Authors retain copyright in their work and grant LMDAJ only the rights needed to publish it.
- Clarity. Every article states its licence, so readers know what they may do with it.
- Same standards for all. Peer review and editorial standards are identical for every article, regardless of access route.
What is free to read
| Content | Access |
|---|---|
| Research articles (original research, reviews, case reports) | Free to read, download and share online immediately on publication, with a free LMDAJ account (create an account and log in; no fee) |
| Editorials, commentaries and announcements | Free to read |
| Public-health emergency content (for example outbreaks) | Always free to read |
| Full printed issues and compiled PDF journal editions | Paid |
| Print subscriptions and hard-copy orders | Paid |
Free access to all research with a free account. Research articles are free to read, download and share as soon as they are published, once you create a free LMDAJ account and log in. There is no charge to read them. This fits our mission of making research from Liberia and West Africa freely available to the people who need it.
Subscription plans (print and online, author and online-only access) continue to fund services and print products, such as printed editions, compiled PDF editions and author tools, not access to individual research articles, which remain free with an account.
Copyright
- Authors (or their employers) retain copyright in their articles. LMDAJ does not require transfer of copyright.
- On acceptance, authors grant LMDAJ a licence to publish, distribute, archive, index and translate the article in all media. Where the article is published open access, reuse by others is governed by the Creative Commons licence (see Licences below).
- Authors may use their own articles for teaching, research, presentations and personal websites, provided the original publication in LMDAJ is cited.
- Articles with authors who are government employees may need special copyright terms; authors should tell the editorial office.
- LMDAJ reserves rights over its own compilation, design, logo, journal name and website content. All rights, including text and data mining for commercial AI training, are reserved except as granted by the article’s licence.
Licences
Open access articles are published under a Creative Commons licence. Authors choose when they accept:
| Licence | Reuse allowed |
|---|---|
| CC BY 4.0 (default, recommended) | Anyone may share, adapt and reuse, including commercially, with attribution. |
| CC BY-NC 4.0 | Reuse and adaptation for non-commercial purposes with attribution. |
| CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | Sharing for non-commercial purposes with attribution; no changes. Required for articles with funding only from a commercial source (for example, pharmaceutical or device manufacturers). |
Each article page must display: the licence, the copyright holder, the DOI and the date of publication. Figures and other material from third parties are not covered by the article licence unless stated, and authors are responsible for obtaining permission for them.
Fees and waivers
- LMDAJ currently charges a USD 50 manuscript processing fee
- LMDAJ does not charge an article publishing charge for open access If one is introduced, it will be published on this page in advance.
- Waivers and support. The processing fee is waived or reduced on request for:
- authors based in Liberia or in other low-income countries (aligned with Research4Life/HINARI group A);
- students, early-career researchers and authors without institutional or grant funding.
- Waivers are decided by the editorial office, never by handling editors or reviewers, and are not disclosed to reviewers.
- Fees or waivers have no influence on acceptance.
Self-archiving and public access
- Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript or the published version in an institutional or subject repository (for example, PubMed Central, Europe PMC, AfricArXiv, or their university repository) on the date of publication, with a link to the version of record and DOI.
- Authors may share preprints at any time; they should disclose this on submission and update the preprint with the journal DOI after publication. See the Preprint Policy.
- LMDAJ will help authors comply with funder and institutional open access requirements. Authors should check their funder’s policy before submission.
Reuse, permissions and reprints
- Reuse of open access articles is governed by their licence and requires no further permission, provided the licence terms (including attribution) are followed.
- Requests to reuse content that is not covered by an open licence (for example printed editions, covers, or third-party material), or to order reprints, should go to the Contact the Editorial Office page. Commercial reprints may carry a fee.
- Personal, educational and non-commercial use by clinicians and students is encouraged.
Archiving, indexing and permanence
LMDAJ will:
- assign a DOI to every article (through Crossref) and show it on the article page and in citations;
- publish article metadata in machine-readable form so search engines and indexes can discover articles;
- deposit full text in at least one long-term archive so content remains available if the journal ceases publication;
- apply for indexing in suitable open directories and databases, such as DOAJ, as eligibility is met, and list only indexes where LMDAJ is actually included.
Special content
- Public health emergencies: content relating to declared outbreaks or emergencies is made free immediately, regardless of any other access rule.
- Translations: LMDAJ is published in English and French. Authors may provide translations of their own articles; these are published under the same licence.
- Data and materials: LMDAJ encourages authors to share data, code and materials in open repositories where privacy and ethics permit. See the Data Sharing Policy.
Complaints, corrections and contact
Questions or concerns about access, licensing or fees: the Contact the Editorial Office page. Corrections to licence or copyright statements will be made promptly and noted on the article, following the journal’s Publication Ethics Policy (COPE).