Copyright and Licensing Policy

Digital Health & Telemonitoring Advances (DHTA) is committed to maintaining clear, transparent, and consistent copyright and licensing arrangements for all scholarly content published by the journal.

This policy explains copyright ownership, rights retained by authors, publication rights granted to the journal, conditions governing reuse of published content, and the treatment of third-party copyrighted material.

1. Copyright Ownership

Authors retain copyright in articles published in Digital Health & Telemonitoring Advances (DHTA) unless a different lawful copyright arrangement applies.

The journal does not require authors to transfer complete ownership of copyright to the publisher as a condition of publication.

2. Publication Rights Granted to the Journal

By agreeing to publication, authors grant DHTA and its publisher a non-exclusive right to:

Publish the article.
Reproduce and distribute the article.
Display and host the article online.
Preserve and archive the published work.
Maintain article metadata.
Submit publication information to indexing, abstracting, discovery, preservation, and scholarly infrastructure services.
Maintain the official version of record and related post-publication notices.

These rights are non-exclusive, and authors retain copyright in their work.

3. Standard Publication License

Unless otherwise clearly stated for a particular historical article or third-party material, articles published in Digital Health & Telemonitoring Advances (DHTA) are distributed under the:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Official license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Under the CC BY 4.0 license, users may:

Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Share the published work.
Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material.
Use the material for scholarly, educational, noncommercial, or commercial purposes.

These permissions apply provided that users comply with the conditions of the CC BY 4.0 license.

4. Attribution Requirement

Reuse of material licensed under CC BY 4.0 must provide appropriate attribution.

Where reasonably practicable, attribution should include:

Author name(s).
Article title.
Journal title.
Publication year.
Volume and issue, where applicable.
DOI or other persistent identifier, where available.
A link to the original published article.
A reference or link to the CC BY 4.0 license.
An indication of whether changes were made.

Attribution must not suggest that the original authors, journal, editors, or publisher endorse the reuse or adapted material unless such endorsement has been explicitly provided.

5. Adaptation and Commercial Reuse

Because DHTA uses the CC BY 4.0 license, adapted and commercial reuse of licensed material is permitted provided that the requirements of the license are followed.

Users may translate, adapt, remix, or otherwise modify licensed material, provided that:

Appropriate attribution is given.
The CC BY 4.0 license is identified.
Changes are clearly indicated.
The adapted work is not presented as an official version published or endorsed by DHTA.

The CC BY 4.0 license does not permit users to misrepresent an independently modified version as the journal's official version of record.

6. Author Rights

Authors retain copyright and may, subject to third-party rights and applicable law:

Share their published article.
Deposit the article in institutional or subject repositories.
Make copies available through personal or academic websites.
Use the article in teaching, presentations, and research.
Reuse the article in future scholarly work with appropriate citation.
Adapt or build upon their work in accordance with the applicable license.
Distribute the published version of the article.

Authors should preserve the bibliographic identity of the version of record when sharing the published article.

7. Self-Archiving

DHTA supports responsible self-archiving.

Authors may deposit appropriate versions of their manuscripts according to the journal's Self-Archiving Policy.

Deposited versions should:

Identify the author(s).
Provide appropriate citation to the published article.
Identify DHTA as the publication source.
Include the DOI or persistent article link where available.
Clearly identify the manuscript version.
Comply with third-party copyright and licensing requirements.

8. Version of Record

The formally published article hosted by DHTA constitutes the journal's Version of Record.

Corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and other post-publication notices should remain clearly linked to the relevant article.

The CC BY 4.0 license does not authorize third parties to alter DHTA's official version of record or represent an independently modified version as an official journal publication.

9. Third-Party Material

The CC BY 4.0 license applied to an article does not automatically apply to third-party material where a separate copyright notice, credit line, or license is indicated.

Third-party material may include:

Figures.
Tables.
Photographs.
Illustrations.
Maps.
Questionnaires.
Scales.
Screenshots.
Clinical or diagnostic images.
Software outputs.
Datasets.
Previously published text.
Other copyrighted material.

Authors are responsible for identifying third-party material and obtaining permission where legally required.

10. Permissions for Third-Party Material

Authors should obtain appropriate permission before publication where copyrighted third-party material cannot legally be reproduced under an applicable license, exception, limitation, or other lawful basis.

The journal may request supporting permission documentation.

Any third-party material excluded from the article's CC BY 4.0 license should be clearly identified through an appropriate credit line or copyright statement.

11. Clinical Images and Patient Information

Copyright permission does not replace ethical requirements regarding patient privacy, confidentiality, or informed consent.

Clinical images, diagnostic images, case materials, screenshots, or identifiable health information must comply with the journal's research ethics and patient-consent requirements.

Authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication where required.

12. Research Data

The copyright or other legal rights associated with research data may differ from the license governing the published article.

Research datasets deposited in external repositories should carry their own applicable access and licensing information.

The CC BY 4.0 license applied to the article should not automatically be interpreted as the license governing separately deposited research data.

Authors should also consult the journal's Research Data Sharing Policy and Data Availability Policy.

13. Software, Algorithms, and Source Code

Software, algorithms, source code, scripts, application interfaces, and related technical materials may be subject to licensing or intellectual-property arrangements separate from the article itself.

Publication of an article describing software or an algorithm does not automatically place independently supplied software or source code under the article's CC BY 4.0 license.

Authors should clearly state the applicable license for software, code, or technical resources where relevant.

14. Artificial Intelligence-Generated or AI-Assisted Material

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that text, images, code, data, or other material created or modified using artificial intelligence tools does not violate copyright, licensing, confidentiality, or other intellectual-property requirements.

Use of AI tools does not guarantee that generated material is free from copyright or other rights concerns.

Authors should disclose relevant use of AI tools in accordance with the journal's AI Usage Policy.

15. Copyright and Plagiarism

Plagiarism concerns inappropriate use or presentation of another person's intellectual contribution without adequate acknowledgment.

Proper citation does not necessarily eliminate the need to obtain copyright permission.

The journal may address plagiarism and copyright concerns through separate but complementary procedures.

16. Copyright Complaints

Individuals or organizations who believe that material published by DHTA infringes their copyright may contact the journal's editorial office.

A complaint should, where possible, include:

Identification of the copyrighted work.
Identification of the DHTA content concerned.
Explanation of the claimed rights.
Relevant evidence of ownership or authorization.
Description of the alleged infringement.
Reliable contact information.

The journal may request additional documentation where necessary.

17. Handling Copyright Concerns

Where a credible copyright concern is raised, DHTA may:

Conduct an initial editorial assessment.
Contact the author(s).
Request permission documentation.
Consult the relevant rights holder.
Correct an inaccurate copyright statement.
Replace or remove specific infringing material where appropriate or legally necessary.
Take further post-publication action where the issue affects the integrity of the publication.

Any action will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the issue.

18. Copyright Notice on Published Articles

Where technically feasible, each published article should clearly display:

Copyright holder.
Publication year.
Applicable Creative Commons license.
Link to the license.

The standard copyright and licensing statement for DHTA articles should be:

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

19. Publisher Rights

The publisher receives only the non-exclusive rights reasonably necessary to publish, distribute, preserve, host, and maintain the scholarly record.

Publication by DHTA does not transfer author copyright to the publisher unless a separate lawful arrangement expressly requires otherwise.

20. Corrections, Retractions, and Updated Content

Where an article is retracted, the published record and associated retraction notice should ordinarily remain available for transparency and preservation of the scholarly record.

Corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction notices should remain clearly connected to the original article.

21. Open Access

DHTA provides immediate open access to published scholarly content.

Open access means that readers may access journal content online without subscription barriers.

The CC BY 4.0 license defines the conditions under which licensed article content may be copied, redistributed, adapted, and reused.

Open access should not be interpreted as absence of copyright.

22. Consistency of Licensing Information

DHTA seeks to present copyright and licensing information consistently across:

Journal website.
Copyright and Licensing Policy.
Open Access Policy.
Author Guidelines.
Author publication agreement or copyright form.
Individual article webpages.
Article PDFs.
Article metadata.
Repository and indexing metadata where applicable.

For current articles governed by this policy, all relevant locations should identify the license as:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

23. Previously Published Articles

The license applicable to an article is normally the license stated for that article at the time of publication.

If an older article was legitimately published under a different license, the historical licensing information should not be silently changed.

Any change to the license of a previously published article should be legally authorized, documented, and communicated transparently.

24. Future Changes to the Journal License

Any future change to DHTA's standard publication license should be announced transparently.

A new licensing policy should ordinarily apply prospectively and should not automatically alter licensing rights associated with previously published articles.

Copyright and Licensing Summary

Copyright Holder: Author(s), unless another lawful copyright holder applies

Journal Publication Rights: Non-exclusive publication and scholarly-record maintenance rights

Standard Article License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

License Abbreviation: CC BY 4.0

Attribution Required: Yes

Sharing and Redistribution: Permitted

Adaptation and Derivative Works: Permitted

Commercial Reuse: Permitted

Third-Party Material: Subject to any separately identified copyright or licensing conditions

Official License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Commitment to Copyright Transparency

Digital Health & Telemonitoring Advances (DHTA) is committed to maintaining copyright and licensing arrangements that are clear, transparent, and consistent for authors, readers, libraries, repositories, and other users of scholarly literature.

Authors retain copyright in their work, while DHTA publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) unless another license is clearly and lawfully identified for a particular historical article or item of third-party material.