Open Access Policy

Open Access Statement

Modern Explorations in Research, Innovation, and Transformation (MERIT) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal committed to the unrestricted dissemination of high-quality research. The journal believes that free and immediate access to scholarly knowledge promotes scientific advancement, encourages academic collaboration, and supports innovation for the benefit of the global research community.

All articles published in MERIT are made freely available online immediately upon publication without subscription fees, registration requirements, or embargo periods. Readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full text of published articles in accordance with the terms of the applicable license.

MERIT supports the principles of open access as outlined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) and is committed to promoting the widest possible dissemination and responsible use of scholarly research.

Our Commitment

As an open-access journal, MERIT is committed to:

• Providing immediate and permanent online access to all published articles without charge to readers.
• Promoting the global dissemination and accessibility of scholarly research.
• Maintaining rigorous peer review and high editorial standards.
• Upholding internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, research integrity, and editorial transparency.
• Supporting the long-term preservation and discoverability of published research through standardized metadata and persistent digital identifiers.
• Maintaining transparent publication policies and clearly communicating any applicable publication charges.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

Authors publishing in MERIT retain the copyright to their work. 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.

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 Rights

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.

Reader Rights

Readers have unrestricted access to all content published in MERIT. There are no subscription fees, access restrictions, or embargo periods.

Readers are free to:

• Read articles online without charge.
• Download and print published articles.
• Cite, share, and distribute published research.
• Use published content in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons license.

MERIT encourages the responsible sharing and reuse of published research to maximize its academic, educational, and societal impact.

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.

Long-Term Accessibility and Preservation

MERIT is committed to ensuring the long-term accessibility, discoverability, and preservation of published scholarly content. The journal supports standardized bibliographic metadata and persistent digital identification to facilitate reliable citation, indexing, and long-term availability within the global scholarly communication ecosystem.

Where applicable, published articles are assigned persistent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and are maintained to support permanent access and accurate scholarly citation.

Open Access Benefits

Open access publishing in MERIT provides significant benefits for authors, readers, institutions, and society by:

• Increasing the global visibility and accessibility of published research.
• Promoting wider dissemination and scholarly collaboration.
• Supporting greater citation potential through unrestricted access.
• Accelerating the exchange of scientific and scholarly knowledge.
• Enabling researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, and the public to access research without financial barriers.

MERIT remains committed to advancing open, ethical, transparent, and accessible scholarly communication in support of research excellence and global knowledge sharing.