Copyright & License

Copyright Policy

Authors publishing in MERIT retain the copyright to their work. The journal follows an author-retains-copyright model and does not require authors to transfer their copyright.

By submitting and publishing their manuscript, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, archive, and preserve the work as part of the scholarly record. Authors remain free to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the published version.

All published articles are made available under the terms of the applicable Creative Commons license, enabling lawful reuse while ensuring appropriate attribution to the original authors and source.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

Unless otherwise stated, articles published in MERIT are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

This license permits anyone to:

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use.

The license requires users to:

• Provide appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the journal.
• Include a link to the Creative Commons license.
• Clearly indicate whether any changes have been made to the original work.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms provided the license terms are followed.

Author Ownership

Authors publishing in MERIT retain important rights to their work, including the right to:

• Retain copyright ownership of their published article.
• Reuse the work for teaching, presentations, and future scholarly activities.
• Deposit preprint and accepted manuscript versions in institutional or subject repositories in accordance with the journal's self-archiving policy.
• Share the published article through personal websites, institutional webpages, and recognized academic networking platforms, subject to the terms of the applicable license.
• Include the published work in theses, dissertations, books, or other scholarly publications with appropriate citation.

Reuse and Distribution

Articles published in MERIT may be copied, distributed, translated, reproduced, adapted, and reused in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons license, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), the journal, and the source of publication.

Any modifications or adaptations of the original work must be clearly identified.

• Provide full attribution to the original authors and the journal.
• Include the DOI or a link to the original article where available.
• Indicate any modifications made to the original work.
• Not imply endorsement by the authors or MERIT.

Commercial reuse is permitted under the CC BY 4.0 license, provided proper attribution is maintained.