Open Access

To help authors gain maximum exposure for their work, IEEE offers three options for open access (OA) publishing – Hybrid Journals, a Multidisciplinary Open Access Mega Journal, and fully Open Access Journals. J-BHI is in the Hybrid Journal Category, which permits both traditional subscription-based content as well as open access, author-pays content. The quality of the review process for OA and traditional articles is the same for all hybrid journals. Any open access papers published within a hybrid journal will be included in all media types offered by that title. Details about OA can be found at IEEE Open Access, you may also find it useful to read about some of the most frequently asked questions.

In line with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, IEEE acknowledges that the broad and open dissemination of NIH-funded research results may benefit not only future science and engineering initiatives, but may also serve the greater interests of society as a whole. A carefully considered and practical application of this principle is essential so as to ensure the scholarly value of the original work and the value added to the work throughout the editing and publishing processes.

IEEE’s position with respect to public access to NIH-funded work published in IEEE journals is as follows:

  1. IEEE authors may voluntarily submit their funded work to PubMed Central (PMC) in the 12th month of the print publication.
  2. IEEE will supply authors of funded work with the final versions of their papers, which authors may then submit directly to PMC.

IEEE already makes its content available to the general public worldwide through its content delivery web site, IEEE Xplore, and remains committed to the idea of convenient, timely and affordable access to scholarly and professional publications.

Click here to view IEEE Position Statement on NIH Public Access Policy.

The standard open access agreement that IEEE authors have signed to authorize publication of an OA article has been the Creative Commons Attribution (CCBY) License. This license was approved for IEEE authors due to its widespread preference by funding agencies such as the Research Councils of the United Kingdom, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as well as others. The CCBY license allows authors to retain copyright in the work, but also carries very broad rights for end users. For instance, end users may reuse the work and must always credit the original author. But the end user does not have to obtain permission from the author to reuse the work, even for commercial purposes or to create derivative works.
Based on recent requests from authors’ funding agencies and universities, IEEE has adopted an additional licensing option for authors. Authors publishing under OA now have the option to select a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivatives (CCBY-NC-ND) license. The CCBY-NC-ND is similar to the CCBY license, in that authors are allowed to retain copyright to their work, and end users may reuse the work, provided that they credit the original author. The end user does not have to obtain permission from the authors or IEEE to reuse the work, but the reuse cannot be for commercial purposes or change the work in any way.
IEEE provides prospective authors with ample information about both Creative Commons license options during the process of completing their electronic IEEE Copyright Form, and is strongly recommending that authors select the appropriate licensing option based on their respective funding agency’s requirements.
If any authors have questions or concerns about IEEE’s copyright policies, or need more information about using a Creative Commons license with their open access articles, please contact the Intellectual Property Rights Office at copyrights@ieee.org

FAQ on Submitting Papers to IEEE under a Creative Commons Attribution, NonCommercial, No Derivatives License (CCBY-NC-ND)