Open Access Policy & CC-BY 4.0 License

1. Open Access Manifesto

International Conference Summit (ICS) firmly believes that scientific knowledge is a global public good. In full adherence to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), our definition of open access means the free availability of scientific literature on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.

2. Author Copyright Retention & Licensing Terms

Unlike traditional closed-access publishers that require authors to transfer their copyright, International Conference Summit (ICS) champions complete author ownership:

• Authors Retain Copyright: Authors maintain unconditional ownership of the copyright in their original research.
• License Grant: Authors grant International Conference Summit (ICS) a non-exclusive license to publish, display, preserve, and distribute the Version of Record (VOR) globally.
• User Rights Under CC-BY 4.0: Under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, anyone is free to:
  • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
  • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
• Attribution Requirement: Users must give appropriate credit to original authors, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. Credit must be reasonable and cannot suggest the licensor endorses the user or their work.

3. Self-Archiving & Green Open Access Policy

Authors are actively encouraged to deposit all versions of their manuscripts into their university repositories, subject repositories (such as arXiv), or personal websites:

• Pre-print (Submitted Manuscript): Authors may share pre-prints anywhere, anytime without embargo.
• Post-print (Accepted Version): Authors may archive the peer-reviewed accepted manuscript immediately upon acceptance.
• Published Version of Record (VOR): Authors and institutions may freely archive and distribute the publisher-formatted PDF immediately upon public posting on International Conference Summit (ICS) with no embargo period.

4. Digital Object Identifiers & Permanent Preservation

To ensure scientific papers remain discoverable and cited for generations:

• CrossRef DOI Registration: Every published paper is immediately assigned a unique, permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) resolving directly to the Version of Record.
• Open Metadata: Machine-readable metadata (JSON, BibTeX, RIS) is openly exposed without authentication via our public endpoints and CrossRef APIs.
• Long-Term Archiving: The platform collaborates with digital preservation networks (aligning with Portico and LOCKSS) to guarantee permanent availability even in the event of platform discontinuation.

5. Article Processing Charges (APC) & Developing Nation Waivers

Open access requires sustainable financial stewardship without transferring costs to readers:

• Transparent Cost Structure: Our standard APC ($150.00 USD) covers rigorous editorial coordination, plagiarism screening, reviewer management systems, digital preservation, and global hosting.
• Waivers & Equity: Corresponding authors from low-income and lower-middle-income countries (categorized under Research4Life Groups A & B) receive automatic 50% to 100% APC waivers. No researcher is ever denied publication due to inability to pay an APC.