Open access publishing significantly increases the visibility and citation potential of research articles. Studies have demonstrated that open access articles receive higher citation rates compared to those behind paywalls.

Authors benefit from broader readership, as their work becomes accessible to practitioners, students, and researchers who may not have institutional subscriptions. Furthermore, many funding agencies mandate open access publication of funded research, making compliance easier for authors publishing in this journal.

Open access removes barriers to knowledge, allowing clinicians, students, and professionals worldwide to access current research without cost. This is particularly beneficial for professionals in developing countries who may lack institutional access to subscription journals.

Through initiatives such as Research4Life (HINARI), open access content reaches institutions in low- and middle-income countries, supporting evidence-based practice globally.

Open access accelerates the pace of scientific discovery by enabling researchers to build upon published findings immediately. The removal of access barriers promotes collaboration across institutions and countries, strengthens the reproducibility of research, and ensures that publicly funded research benefits the public.

IJASR operates as a Gold Open Access journal, meaning that all accepted articles are made freely available on the journal website immediately upon publication. There is no embargo period, and the final published version is accessible to all readers without charge.

The journal also supports Green Open Access by permitting authors to self-archive their accepted manuscripts in institutional repositories or preprint servers. Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript (post-peer-review) in repositories such as PubMed Central or institutional archives.

All articles published in this journal are distributed under Creative Commons licences, which provide a standardised framework for sharing scholarly content while protecting authors' rights.

The default licence is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), which permits users to share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, and build upon the work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors.

Authors may alternatively select:

• CC BY-NC 4.0: Allows the same freedoms but prohibits commercial reuse without separate permission
• CC BY-ND 4.0: Available for authors requiring that their work not be modified

Authors retain full copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. The selected licence is displayed on each published article.

As an open access journal, IJASR does not charge readers for access. Instead, publication costs are covered through Article Processing Charges (APCs) payable by authors upon acceptance of their manuscript.

The APC covers peer review administration, editorial processing, copyediting, typesetting, digital hosting, and long-term preservation. The current APC and payment details are published on the journal website. No charges are levied for rejected manuscripts.

Waivers and Discounts

The journal is committed to ensuring that financial limitations do not prevent publication of quality research. Full or partial APC waivers are available for authors from low-income and lower-middle-income countries as classified by the World Bank. Authors experiencing financial hardship may apply for discretionary waivers, which are assessed independently of editorial decisions.

All published articles are permanently archived to ensure long-term accessibility. Each article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through Crossref, providing a persistent link that remains functional even if the journal website URL changes.

The journal is committed to ensuring its content reaches the widest possible audience. The journal website is designed to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, ensuring usability for readers with disabilities.

Articles are published in PDF for online reading, downloading, and printing. Content is distributed through academic search engines, indexing services, and social media platforms to maximise discoverability.

IJASR provides multiple notification services to keep readers informed about newly published content:

• Email Alerts: Subscribe to receive alerts whenever new articles are published, with customisable preferences for specific article types or subject areas.
• RSS Feeds: Receive automatic updates through your preferred RSS reader or news aggregator.
• Table of Contents (TOC) Alerts: Receive comprehensive overviews of all articles published in each new issue.
• Social Media Updates: Follow the journal on social media platforms for announcements of newly published articles and special issues.
• Citation Alerts: Set up citation alerts through indexing services such as Google Scholar to track when published articles are cited.