Repository and Self-Archiving Policy

Authors transfer copyright in their article to the publisher by signing the Copyright Transfer and Declaration Form at submission. This policy explains what authors and readers may and may not do when sharing a published article. It should be read together with the Copyright Policy and the Licensing Policy. Where this policy and the signed Copyright Transfer and Declaration Form differ, the signed form prevails.

Policy Statement

Authors and readers may freely share the DOI of an article, or the link to it on this website. The final published version of the article (the Version of Record) may not be posted, deposited or republished elsewhere, including in any repository, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Other versions of the article likewise need the publisher’s written permission, unless the publisher has agreed otherwise in writing for that article.

Article Versions

For the purposes of this Policy the following versions are recognised:

• Submitted Manuscript (preprint): the version submitted to the journal before peer review.

• Accepted Manuscript (AM, post-print): the author’s final peer-reviewed version accepted for publication, before copy-editing, typesetting and publisher formatting.

• Version of Record (VoR): the final published article, as typeset and released by the publisher, including any subsequent Corrected or Enhanced Version of Record.

What Is Permitted and What Needs Permission

• DOI and link: authors and readers may freely share the article’s DOI (https://doi.org/[DOI]) or the link to the article on this website, on any website, repository record, social media or in any other medium.

• Version of Record: may not be posted, deposited or republished elsewhere, including in institutional, subject, funder or general-purpose repositories, on personal or institutional websites and on scholarly collaboration networks, without the publisher’s prior written permission.

• Accepted Manuscript and Submitted Manuscript: likewise need the publisher’s written permission before they are posted or deposited, unless the publisher has agreed otherwise in writing for that article.

• Readers may read, download and share the published article under the licence shown on the article (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), as described in the Copyright Policy and the Licensing Policy. That licence does not give authors or anyone else permission to deposit the Version of Record in a repository.

Requesting Permission

To ask for the publisher’s written permission, write to info@stmjournals.com, stating the article (title and DOI), the version you wish to post or deposit, where, and why. The publisher will reply in writing. Permission applies only to the article, version and place named in the reply.

Conditions When Permission Is Given

Any version posted or deposited with the publisher’s written permission must:

• be clearly labelled with its version (Submitted Manuscript, Accepted Manuscript or Version of Record) in the file and in the repository record;

• include the full citation of the published article and a persistent link to the Version of Record using the DOI (https://doi.org/[DOI]);

• state the licence under which the article is published, using the wording shown on the article;

• exclude or obtain separate permission for any third-party material that is not covered by the article licence;

• not be presented as the Version of Record if it is an earlier version.

Preprints

The journals consider manuscripts that have been posted on recognised, non-commercial or community preprint servers. A preprint is not regarded as prior publication or duplicate submission. Authors must disclose the preprint, including its DOI, at submission. This section concerns disclosure only; it does not give permission to post the Accepted Manuscript or the Version of Record. Preprints are not cited by the journal as peer-reviewed literature. Media coverage of a preprint does not affect consideration of the manuscript.

Publisher Deposit and Metadata

The publisher registers a DOI with Crossref for every article and deposits full article-level metadata, including the licence URL, funder information and reference lists. Where an author’s funder or institution requires deposit of the article in a designated repository, the author should contact the publisher at info@stmjournals.com before submission so that the request can be considered and answered in writing. Nothing in this Policy overrides the signed Copyright Transfer and Declaration Form.

Corrections, Retractions and Posted Versions

If an article is corrected or retracted, the Version of Record in the journal is the authoritative statement of the article’s status. Where a version has been posted with the publisher’s permission, the author is expected to update the record to reflect the correction or retraction and to link to the notice. A posted version must not be presented as current where the VoR has been retracted.

Long-Term Preservation

The publisher preserves the Version of Record through a recognised digital preservation service as described in the Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy.

Policy Review

This Policy is published on the journal website and linked from the author guidelines. It is reviewed at least annually and whenever funder, indexing or repository requirements change.