Repository Policy

At the Archives of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, we believe that research achieves its greatest potential when it is not only published but also preserved, shared, and woven into the wider fabric of scholarly communication. Our Repository Policy is shaped by this conviction: to ensure that every article entrusted to us lives beyond the page—accessible, retrievable, and safeguarded for generations to come.

Purpose and Vision

Repositories serve as bridges between researchers and the communities they aim to reach. They are living libraries that guarantee the durability of knowledge. Our policy exists to empower authors to share their work openly, while ensuring compliance with institutional and funder mandates. It also reinforces our role as custodians of science, upholding both transparency and trust.

Self-Archiving Rights

Authors publishing with us enjoy generous rights to deposit their work. To encourage dissemination while maintaining academic integrity, the following applies:

• Preprints: Authors may share pre-submission versions (preprints) in institutional, subject-based, or general-purpose repositories. We welcome this practice, as it fosters early collaboration and discussion.
• Accepted Manuscripts: The version accepted after peer review (author accepted manuscript, or AAM) may be deposited in repositories immediately upon acceptance, with a clear statement acknowledging its pending publication.
• Published Version: The final version of record (VoR), complete with DOI, formatting, and licensing, may be deposited immediately upon publication under our CC BY 4.0 license.

By affirming these rights, we align with the principles of open science, where knowledge moves freely across borders and disciplines.

Repository Types

We encourage archiving in a diverse range of repositories to maximize reach and resilience:

• Institutional Repositories: University and laboratory platforms that store the intellectual output of their communities.
• Subject Repositories: Discipline-specific repositories, such as those dedicated to life sciences, biotechnology, or biomedical engineering.
• General-Purpose Repositories: Open platforms like Zenodo or Figshare, which provide DOI assignment and foster global visibility.
• National or Regional Archives: Repositories supported by governments or academic consortia, enhancing local accessibility.

Licensing and Attribution

Articles published in this journal carry a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license. This means that once deposited in repositories, works may be shared, adapted, and reused—even commercially—provided proper attribution is given to the authors and the journal. Every deposit must include:

• The article’s DOI, linking to the version of record.
• A full citation to the journal.
• A statement of the open-access license.

These practices ensure clarity for readers and preserve scholarly credit.

Compliance With Mandates

Increasingly, research funders require that publications be openly accessible and deposited in recognized repositories. Our policy is fully aligned with mandates from Plan S, Horizon Europe, NIH, UKRI, and UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendations. Authors can be confident that depositing their work under this policy satisfies such requirements.

Preservation and Permanence

Repositories are not simply warehouses; they are guardians of permanence. Articles deposited under our policy are safeguarded through:

• LOCKSS and CLOCKSS: Ensuring “lots of copies keep stuff safe.”
• Publisher Archives: Secure servers with redundant backups.
• Repository Redundancy: Deposits across multiple systems to reduce the risk of loss.
• Metadata Integrity: CrossRef deposits and OAI-PMH compliance, making articles discoverable worldwide.

Why Repositories Matter

Beyond compliance, repositories expand the moral and practical reach of research. A student in a rural university, a policymaker in a developing country, or a small biotech startup without library subscriptions can all draw on repository content to learn, build, and innovate. Repositories affirm the principle that science is a collective heritage—one that grows stronger when shared.

Values at the Heart of Our Policy

This policy is not only about systems, but about values. By encouraging repository deposits, we stand for:

• Equity: Every researcher, regardless of circumstance, should have access to knowledge.
• Resilience: Knowledge must endure technological change and institutional shifts.
• Collaboration: Shared repositories foster dialogue across borders and disciplines.
• Trust: Transparency in availability reinforces credibility and scholarly integrity.

Future Directions

We are working toward deeper integration with repository infrastructures. Planned enhancements include automated repository deposits at acceptance, support for data and code repositories, and the linking of supplementary datasets with primary articles. In doing so, we aim to support not only open publications, but open science in its fullest sense.

Conclusion

The Archives of Biotechnology and Biomedicine affirms that research belongs to humanity. Our Repository Policy transforms this conviction into practice by ensuring that articles are freely shared, preserved, and woven into the living web of knowledge. By participating in this process, authors extend the life of their work beyond publication, giving it a voice in classrooms, laboratories, policies, and communities across the globe.