Author Rights Policy

JSOMER protects authors’ intellectual property rights while supporting immediate open access, responsible scholarly sharing, proper attribution, and long-term accessibility.

Purpose

This policy explains copyright ownership; nonexclusive rights granted to JSOMER; the publication license; authors’ sharing, archiving, and reuse rights; preprints and repositories; third-party materials; submission and proof confirmation; and post-publication responsibilities.

Questions concerning authorship eligibility, author order, contributorship, corresponding authorship, accountability, and authorship changes are governed by the Authorship and Contributorship Policy.

1Copyright Ownership

Authors retain the copyright to their articles published in JSOMER.

Authors retain copyright without granting JSOMER exclusive ownership or exclusive publishing rights. Copyright remains with the authors or, where applicable, another lawful copyright holder identified before publication.

The standard copyright notice is: Copyright © [year] The Author(s). Where copyright belongs lawfully to an employer, institution, government, or another rights holder, the notice may be modified accordingly.

2Rights Granted to JSOMER

By submitting a manuscript and approving its publication, the authors grant JSOMER the nonexclusive rights necessary to:

• publish the article for the first time and identify JSOMER as the original publisher;
• edit and format the article without changing its scholarly meaning;
• reproduce, distribute, and make the article immediately and permanently available online;
• assign, register, and maintain a DOI and article-level metadata;
• submit the article and metadata to indexing, abstracting, discovery, archiving, preservation, and research-information services;
• preserve the article in current or future technical formats and prepare accessible or machine-readable versions where appropriate;
• include the article in issues, archives, thematic collections, and scholarly databases;
• link the article to corrections, retractions, Expressions of Concern, or other notices; and
• take reasonable action to protect the integrity of the published scholarly record.

These rights are nonexclusive and do not prevent authors from exercising their copyright or using, sharing, and reusing their work in accordance with this policy.

3No Copyright Transfer or Separate Publishing Contract

JSOMER does not require authors to sign a copyright transfer agreement, exclusive publishing agreement, separate licensing contract, printed authorization form, digitally signed publication contract, or another standalone document transferring ownership.

Authors are not required to print, sign, scan, upload, or mail a separate publication agreement. Approval is recorded through the ordinary OJS submission and publication workflow.

The initial submission declarations and corresponding author’s approval of the final proof document that:

• all authors approve submission and publication;
• the corresponding author is authorized to communicate on behalf of all authors;
• the authors retain copyright;
• JSOMER receives the nonexclusive rights necessary to publish, distribute, preserve, index, and maintain the article;
• the article may be published under the license displayed in the final version; and
• the applicable editorial and publication policies are accepted.

These electronic confirmations are retained in the journal’s manuscript-management and editorial records.

4Author Confirmation at Initial Submission

The submitting or corresponding author must confirm through the OJS submission checklist that:

• the manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere;
• permitted prior dissemination has been disclosed;
• all authors reviewed and approved the manuscript and its submission to JSOMER;
• authorship and author order are accurate;
• the corresponding author is authorized to communicate on behalf of all authors;
• required ethical approvals and informed consent procedures have been completed;
• conflicts of interest, funding, data availability, and AI disclosures are accurate;
• third-party material is covered by permission, license, attribution, or a lawful exception;
• the submission complies with journal policies; and
• the authors understand the stated copyright and licensing terms.

Authors should not submit until all authors accept these conditions. The corresponding author must communicate material editorial developments, revisions, proofs, and publication information to all co-authors.

5Final Proof and Publication Approval

After acceptance and production preparation, the corresponding author receives the proof and must confirm that author names, author order, affiliations, contact information, funding, conflicts, ethics, consent, data availability, acknowledgments, copyright, licensing, tables, figures, references, supplementary materials, and the final article are accurate and approved by all authors.

The corresponding author’s approval on behalf of all authors constitutes final authorization for publication. JSOMER does not require a separate signed contract after proof approval.

Proof confirmation: On behalf of all authors, I approve this proof for publication. I confirm that all authors have reviewed and approved the final article, that the author names, order, affiliations, disclosures, copyright notice, and licensing information are accurate, and that I am authorized to provide this approval on behalf of all authors.

Proof approval primarily confirms the accuracy of the production-ready article. Major changes to the accepted manuscript are not normally permitted at this stage.

6Publication License

Unless a published article clearly states otherwise, JSOMER articles are distributed under the:

Readers may copy and redistribute the article in any medium or format, provided that:

• appropriate credit is given to the authors;
• the original publication in JSOMER is acknowledged;
• a link to the Creative Commons license is provided;
• the use is not primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation; and
• modified, adapted, remixed, or transformed versions are not distributed without separate permission.

The license does not permit users to imply that the authors or JSOMER endorse a particular use, organization, product, interpretation, or activity.

7Relationship Between Copyright and the License

The Creative Commons license governs third-party use of the published article. It does not transfer copyright from the authors to JSOMER.

Because authors retain copyright and grant JSOMER only nonexclusive rights, authors may use, reuse, reproduce, share, translate, and adapt their own work, subject to:

• the rights of co-authors and third-party rights holders;
• ethical and legal requirements;
• acknowledgment of the original JSOMER publication;
• transparency concerning later adaptations or republications; and
• duplicate or redundant publication policies.

The NoDerivatives condition restricts third parties from distributing modified versions under the license. It does not prevent copyright-owning authors from preparing later works based on their own articles.

8Authors’ Rights to Share Their Work

Authors may share their work through personal websites, institutional, disciplinary, or funder repositories, nonprofit scholarly networks, research-information systems, course-management systems, educational platforms, academic presentations, and other noncommercial scholarly channels.

When sharing the final published version, authors should:

• provide the complete JSOMER citation and DOI;
• link to the official article page;
• preserve copyright and license information;
• preserve correction, retraction, or other post-publication status information; and
• avoid presenting a modified file as the version of record.

Separate permission from JSOMER is not required for sharing consistent with this policy.

9Preprints

Authors may post a preprint before submission or while the manuscript is under consideration, provided that:

• the preprint is disclosed during submission and identified accurately;
• the manuscript is not presented as peer-reviewed or accepted before an editorial decision;
• posting does not violate privacy, confidentiality, copyright, contractual obligations, or law; and
• material differences between the preprint and submitted manuscript are disclosed where relevant.

Posting a preprint does not, by itself, constitute prior publication for JSOMER.

After publication, authors should update the preprint with the complete citation, DOI, link to the version of record, and a statement that the article has been published in JSOMER.

10Accepted Manuscripts

Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript in a personal, institutional, disciplinary, or funder-designated repository without an embargo.

The accepted manuscript has completed peer review and been accepted but has not undergone final copyediting, layout, or production.

Suggested repository statement: This manuscript has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Social Media Research. The final published version is available at: [DOI or article URL].

After publication, authors should add the final citation and DOI. The accepted manuscript must not be presented as the final version of record.

11Version of Record

The version of record is the final article formally published after peer review, editorial approval, copyediting, production, and author proof approval. Authors may deposit and share it without an embargo.

When sharing the version of record, authors should preserve the title, author names, journal title, volume and issue, page range or article number, DOI, copyright notice, Creative Commons license, and links or notices concerning later corrections or actions.

The version of record must not be modified in a manner that could mislead readers about the content formally published by JSOMER.

12Reuse in Future Scholarly Works

Authors may reuse all or part of their article in books, chapters, edited collections, theses, dissertations, presentations, posters, lectures, course materials, reports, policy documents, portfolios, translations, extended studies, and later scholarly syntheses. Separate permission from JSOMER is not required because authors retain copyright.

Authors must:

• acknowledge the original JSOMER publication and provide the complete citation and DOI;
• disclose that later material is based on, adapted from, or reproduces the article;
• avoid presenting substantially identical content as a completely new publication;
• comply with duplicate and redundant publication policies; and
• obtain permission for third-party content not owned by the authors.

Substantial republication or translation should be disclosed to the editor or publisher of the later work.

13Use in Theses and Dissertations

Authors may include their JSOMER articles in a thesis or dissertation without requesting journal permission.

The thesis or dissertation should acknowledge first publication in JSOMER, provide the complete citation and DOI, identify whether the submitted, accepted, or published version is included, preserve copyright and license information when reproducing the version of record, and comply with institutional requirements.

For multi-authored articles, the author must respect co-author rights and describe individual contributions accurately.

14Translations and Adaptations

Third parties may not distribute a translation, adaptation, abridgment, or other modified version under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 without separate authorization.

Copyright-owning authors may translate or adapt their own work but should acknowledge the original publication, provide the citation and DOI, identify the new version as a translation or adaptation, avoid presenting it as an independent original publication, obtain co-author agreement where required, comply with secondary-publication standards, and secure rights for third-party material.

Authors planning formal republication, translation, or substantial adaptation are encouraged to notify JSOMER so the relationship can be documented accurately.

15Commercial Reuse

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 does not authorize third parties to use an article primarily for commercial advantage or monetary compensation. Commercial reuse requires permission from the copyright holder, normally the authors.

Permission from JSOMER may also be necessary when the proposed use involves the journal’s name or logo, publisher-owned cover or layout materials, the journal website or compilation, an implication of journal endorsement, or material for which JSOMER separately holds rights.

16Third-Party Materials

Authors are responsible for the right to include third-party material, including figures, tables, photographs, screenshots, scales, instruments, questionnaires, maps, illustrations, datasets, software, code, audio, video, substantial text extracts, and social media content.

Authors must determine whether permission is necessary, obtain written permission where required, comply with the original license or terms, provide accurate attribution, disclose reuse limitations, and retain permission documentation.

Material not covered by the article’s Creative Commons license must be identified clearly in a caption, credit line, note, or relevant section.

17Funder and Institutional Requirements

Authors must inform JSOMER of funder, employer, governmental, or institutional requirements affecting copyright ownership, licensing, repository deposit, public access, rights-retention statements, manuscript versions, or acknowledgments.

When a different license is required, the author must notify JSOMER before publication so compatibility can be evaluated. Any approved exception must be displayed clearly on the published article.

18Changes After Publication

Authors retain the right and responsibility to report material errors or concerns after publication. Copyright ownership does not give authors the unilateral right to alter the version of record, replace files, remove an article, change authorship, withdraw reliable findings for reputational reasons, or prevent an appropriate correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction.

Changes are governed by the Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern Policy. Authors are normally informed and given an opportunity to respond, but agreement is not required when action is necessary to protect the scholarly record.

19Rights Following Retraction

Retraction does not normally transfer copyright or erase publication history. A retracted article generally remains accessible, is clearly marked as retracted, and is linked to the retraction notice.

Authors must not distribute a retracted article without clearly disclosing its retracted status.

20No Author Fees or Rights-Based Charges

JSOMER does not charge submission fees, article processing charges, publication fees, page charges, copyright-retention fees, Creative Commons licensing fees, self-archiving fees, repository-deposit fees, proof-approval fees, or withdrawal fees.

This policy governs copyright ownership and authors’ rights to share and reuse their work. The Authorship and Contributorship Policy governs authorship eligibility, author order, contributions, accountability, and changes. The Open Access and Archiving Policy governs reader access, repositories, preservation, and long-term accessibility. The Creative Commons license governs third-party reuse.