Archiving Policy

The International Journal of Surgical and Medical Research (IJSMR) is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation, accessibility, and availability of all published scholarly content. To safeguard the integrity of the scientific record, the journal employs a comprehensive digital preservation strategy. As a journal operating on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, IJSMR utilizes the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which preserves journal content through a distributed LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) network maintained by multiple academic institutions. This decentralized preservation system ensures that journal content remains accessible even in the event of server failure, technical disruption, or journal discontinuation. In addition, all journal files, including article PDFs, metadata, and supplementary materials, are regularly backed up on secure servers located in geographically distinct environments to provide an additional layer of protection against data loss.

IJSMR supports the principles of Green Open Access and encourages authors to archive and disseminate their research widely. Authors retain copyright of their published work and may deposit preprints, accepted manuscripts, and the final published version of record in institutional repositories, subject-specific repositories, personal websites, and professional networking platforms. Preprint versions may be shared at any stage prior to publication. Accepted manuscripts and the final published PDF may be deposited immediately upon publication, provided that proper citation of the original article and a link or DOI directing readers to the official version on the IJSMR website are included.

To maximize discoverability and interoperability, all article metadata published by IJSMR is made openly available and may be harvested by indexing services, repositories, and scholarly databases. The journal is committed to maintaining compliance with international standards for digital preservation and scholarly communication. As the journal expands and fulfills the eligibility requirements of additional preservation initiatives, IJSMR will seek participation in recognized long-term archiving programs such as CLOCKSS, Portico, and other trusted digital preservation services. This policy is reviewed periodically and updated as necessary to reflect developments in preservation infrastructure and best practices in scholarly publishing.