Copyright and Licensing

Journal: Journal of Materials for the Built Environment (JMBE)
Policy Version: 1.0
Effective Date: September 2026

1. Copyright Ownership

For articles published in Journal of Materials for the Built Environment (JMBE), copyright remains with the authors, unless a different arrangement is explicitly agreed in writing.

Publication of an article in JMBE does not normally require authors to transfer copyright ownership to Sunlit Grove Publishing.

Authors retain the copyright in their original scholarly work while granting the necessary rights for the journal to publish, distribute, preserve, and make the article publicly available.

2. Publishing License

By publishing an article in JMBE, authors grant Sunlit Grove Publishing a non-exclusive publishing license necessary to:

• publish the article;

• reproduce and distribute the article;

• make the article publicly accessible online;

• host and preserve the article;

• assign and display publication metadata;

• deposit metadata with indexing and scholarly infrastructure services; and

• otherwise operate the article as part of the journal's scholarly record.

This publishing license does not normally transfer ownership of copyright from the authors to the publisher.

3. Creative Commons License

JMBE articles are normally published under the:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

The CC BY 4.0 license permits others to:

• copy and redistribute the article;

• share the article in other media or formats;

• adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material; and

• use the material for commercial or non-commercial purposes,

provided that the requirements of the license are followed.

Users must provide appropriate attribution, include a link to the applicable license, and indicate whether changes were made.

The full terms of the license are available from Creative Commons.

4. Author Rights

Authors retain broad rights to use and disseminate their published work.

Subject to the applicable CC BY 4.0 license, authors may:

• share the published article;

• deposit the article in institutional or subject repositories;

• use the article for teaching and educational purposes;

• include the article in a thesis or dissertation;

• distribute copies for scholarly purposes;

• use figures and other article content in future scholarly work, subject to applicable third-party rights; and

• otherwise reuse their work consistently with the applicable license.

Authors should cite the original JMBE publication and DOI when reusing or redistributing the published article.

5. Third-Party Material

The CC BY 4.0 license applies to material for which the relevant rights are included in the article's licensing arrangement.

Some content incorporated into an article may be owned by third parties and may be subject to separate copyright or licensing restrictions.

Examples may include:

• photographs;

• maps;

• architectural drawings;

• previously published figures;

• datasets supplied by third parties;

• trademarks or logos; and

• other copyrighted material.

Where third-party material is not covered by the article's CC BY 4.0 license, the relevant credit line or rights statement should identify the applicable restriction.

Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for third-party copyrighted material before publication where required.

6. Permissions

Authors must obtain appropriate permission to reproduce copyrighted third-party material when permission is legally required.

Where permission has been obtained, authors should provide the relevant documentation during submission or upon request.

The journal may request evidence of permission before publication.

Authors should not assume that material available online is automatically free to reproduce or redistribute.

7. Author Warranties

By submitting a manuscript to JMBE, authors represent that, to the best of their knowledge:

• the manuscript is original;

• they have the necessary rights to submit the work;

• the submission does not knowingly infringe the copyright or other rights of third parties;

• appropriate permission has been obtained for third-party material where required;

• all relevant sources have been acknowledged; and

• the manuscript does not contain knowingly unlawful or defamatory material.

Where the article contains material created jointly with others, the submitting authors are responsible for ensuring that the appropriate permissions and agreements are in place.

8. Moral Rights and Attribution

Where applicable under relevant law, authors retain their moral rights in their work.

Users of JMBE articles should maintain appropriate attribution to:

• the original authors;

• the article title;

• JMBE;

• the publisher; and

• the original publication details and DOI,

where reasonably practicable.

9. Open Access Publication

JMBE is a Gold Open Access journal.

Articles are made freely available immediately upon publication without subscription or paywall access restrictions.

Open access publication does not alter the authors' underlying ownership of copyright.

The journal's Open Access Policy provides additional information regarding access, licensing, APCs, and reuse.

10. Article Processing Charges and Copyright

Payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC) does not result in transfer of copyright to the publisher.

APCs cover publication-related services and do not change the ownership or licensing principles described in this policy.

Editorial acceptance is independent of an author's willingness or ability to pay an APC, subject to the journal's applicable waiver and financial policies.

11. Preprints and Earlier Versions

Authors may share their work through recognized preprint servers in accordance with JMBE's preprint policy.

Publication of a preprint does not normally affect the author's ability to retain copyright in the final article.

Where a final version is later published in JMBE, authors are encouraged to link the preprint to the published article and DOI where the relevant platform permits.

12. Thesis and Dissertation Use

Authors may normally include their published JMBE article in a thesis or dissertation, subject to institutional requirements and appropriate acknowledgement of the original publication.

Where the thesis is made publicly available online, the published JMBE article and DOI should be identified where appropriate.

13. Conference Papers and Related Publications

Authors may submit work that has previously appeared in conference proceedings where the submission represents a sufficiently distinct scholarly contribution and any relevant prior publication is transparently disclosed.

Authors are responsible for checking the copyright and licensing terms of the original conference publication.

Where substantial material is reused, appropriate citation and permission should be provided where required.

The journal may request clarification concerning the relationship between a conference paper and the submitted manuscript.

14. Reuse in Future Scholarly Work

Authors may reuse portions of their published JMBE articles in later scholarly work where permitted under the applicable CC BY 4.0 license and provided that appropriate attribution is given.

Reuse should not mislead readers about the originality or publication history of the material.

Where previously published material forms a substantial part of a new work, authors should clearly identify and cite the original JMBE article.

15. Text and Data Mining

The CC BY 4.0 license permits text and data mining and related forms of analysis, subject to the license terms and any rights restrictions applying to third-party content.

Researchers conducting large-scale analysis of JMBE articles should retain appropriate attribution and, where practical, preserve article identifiers such as DOIs.

Where technical access arrangements are required for automated use of journal content, users should comply with applicable website and access requirements.

16. Commercial Reuse

The CC BY 4.0 license permits commercial reuse of JMBE articles, provided that the license conditions are satisfied.

Commercial users may not imply that:

• the authors endorse a product or service;

• JMBE endorses a commercial activity; or

• Sunlit Grove Publishing has approved a particular adaptation or application,

unless such endorsement has been separately authorized.

The journal's name, logo, trademarks, website design, and other publisher materials may be subject to separate rights.

17. Changes to the Published Article

Once an article is published, the published version forms part of the permanent scholarly record.

Authors should not replace or alter the published version in a way that creates confusion about the official version of record.

Where substantive changes are necessary, the journal may publish:

• a correction;

• an editorial notice;

• an Expression of Concern; or

• a retraction,

in accordance with the journal's applicable post-publication policies.

Authors may continue to share the published article under the applicable CC BY 4.0 license.

18. Retraction and Licensing

Retraction does not normally remove the original article from the scholarly record.

Where an article is retracted, the article may remain accessible with a clear retraction notice identifying its status.

The applicable license remains relevant to the article and associated content except where specific legal or rights restrictions require otherwise.

19. Publisher Rights

Sunlit Grove Publishing retains the rights necessary to operate, preserve, and administer the journal and its publishing platform.

These may include rights related to:

• website operation;

• journal branding;

• publication metadata;

• DOI registration;

• indexing and archiving;

• digital preservation;

• article presentation;

• XML and structured content;

• hosting and distribution; and

• technical management of published content.

These publisher rights do not normally transfer copyright ownership of the article itself from the authors to Sunlit Grove Publishing.

20. Applicable Law and Individual Agreements

Copyright and licensing rights may vary according to jurisdiction, applicable law, funder requirements, and specific publishing agreements.

Where a separate written agreement applies to a particular article or type of content, that agreement may specify additional or different rights.

Any such arrangement will be communicated clearly to the relevant authors.

21. Policy Review

JMBE may update this policy to reflect developments in copyright law, open access, scholarly communication, licensing standards, and publishing practice.

The current version of this policy will be maintained on the journal website.

22. Contact

Questions regarding copyright, permissions, or licensing may be directed to:

Editorial Office
Journal of Materials for the Built Environment (JMBE)
Sunlit Grove Publishing
Email: contact@sunlitpub.com