Open Access Policy

Indian Journal of Community Health (IJCH) is committed to the free and unrestricted dissemination of scientific knowledge. All articles published in the journal are made immediately and permanently available online without subscription fees or access barriers, thereby supporting the wider distribution of public health and community medicine research.

The Indian Journal of Community Health (IJCH), the official journal of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM), believes that scientific evidence should be accessible to researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, policymakers, students, and the wider community. Open access publishing enhances the visibility, accessibility, and impact of scholarly work while facilitating the translation of research into public health action.

Open Access Statement

All articles published in IJCH are freely accessible online immediately upon publication. Readers may read, download, print, search, and link to the full text of articles without financial, legal, or technical barriers, subject to the terms of the journal's copyright and licensing policy.

Copyright and Licensing

The contents of the Indian Journal of Community Health are protected under Indian and international copyright laws.

Articles published in IJCH are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.

This license grants all users a free, worldwide, and perpetual right to:

  • Access and read published articles without charge.
  • Download and store articles for personal and academic use.
  • Share and redistribute articles in any medium or format.
  • Print copies for personal, educational, and non-commercial purposes.
  • Use published content with proper attribution to the authors and journal.

Under this license, users may not:

  • Use the content for commercial purposes.
  • Modify, adapt, translate, transform, or create derivative works.
  • Redistribute altered versions of published articles.

Any use beyond the scope of the license requires prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Author Rights

Authors retain recognition and attribution for their scholarly work. Upon acceptance of a manuscript, authors are required to submit a duly completed copyright form and grant the journal the rights necessary to publish, archive, preserve, and disseminate the work as part of the permanent scientific record.

Article Processing Charges

To support manuscript handling, copyediting, typesetting, online hosting, archiving, and long-term preservation of published content, IJCH levies submission and article processing charges in accordance with the rates published in the journal's Author Guidelines.

These charges help sustain the journal's open access publishing model while ensuring that all published articles remain freely available to readers worldwide.

Benefits of Open Access

  • Wider dissemination of public health and community medicine research.
  • Enhanced visibility and discoverability of published articles.
  • Improved accessibility for institutions and individuals with limited resources.
  • Greater opportunities for scholarly engagement and citation.
  • Faster translation of evidence into public health policy and practice.
  • Promotion of national and international collaboration in health research.

Archiving and Preservation

IJCH is committed to maintaining the long-term accessibility and integrity of the scholarly record. Published articles are preserved through appropriate digital archiving, indexing services, and repository systems to ensure their continued availability for future generations of researchers and practitioners.

Commitment to Public Health Knowledge

The journal supports the principle that scientific evidence should be widely available to improve population health and strengthen healthcare systems. Through its open access policy, IJCH seeks to promote evidence-based public health practice, support academic scholarship, facilitate knowledge exchange, and contribute to improved health outcomes in India and across the world.

Indian Journal of Community Health (IJCH)
Official Journal of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM)
Managed by the Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter of IAPSM

Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License