1. Policy Statement

The Journal of Integrated Elementary Education (JIEEd) is committed to protecting authors' intellectual property rights while promoting the open dissemination, accessibility, and responsible reuse of scholarly research.

JIEEd operates under an open-access publishing model in which authors retain copyright to their published work, and articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

This policy defines copyright ownership, publication rights, licensing conditions, author self-archiving permissions, third-party material requirements, and responsibilities associated with the reuse of published content.

It applies to all articles published by JIEEd, including Original Research Articles and Review Articles, subject to the licensing terms identified in the relevant publication.

2. Copyright Ownership

Authors who publish in JIEEd retain copyright to their original scholarly contributions.

JIEEd does not require authors to transfer full copyright ownership to the journal or publisher.

Copyright retention allows authors to maintain their legal interests in their scholarly work while permitting its publication and dissemination under the journal's open-access license.

The journal recognizes the intellectual contributions and moral rights of authors, subject to applicable copyright law.

2.1 Authors' Rights

Authors retain the right to:

Be identified and acknowledged as the creators of their work.
Share and distribute their published articles.
Deposit their work in appropriate scholarly repositories.
Reuse their publications in subsequent scholarly activities.
Incorporate their work into books, teaching materials, academic presentations, or research collections.
Enter into separate non-exclusive distribution arrangements.
Exercise other rights retained under applicable copyright law.

These activities must remain consistent with the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, relevant third-party rights, and applicable ethical obligations.

2.2 Author Responsibilities

Copyright retention does not remove authors' responsibilities for originality, accurate attribution, research integrity, and lawful use of intellectual property.

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts do not infringe the rights of other individuals or organizations.

3. Publication Rights Granted to the Journal

Authors grant JIEEd the non-exclusive rights necessary to publish, reproduce, distribute, communicate, preserve, and identify their scholarly work as an article published in the journal.

These rights support the journal's editorial and publishing activities, including:

Publishing the accepted article in its final scholarly form.
Distributing the article through the official journal website.
Registering and maintaining article DOI information and bibliographic metadata.
Making articles accessible through appropriate indexing and discovery services.
Supporting digital preservation and long-term scholarly access.
Publishing necessary corrections, expressions of concern, or retraction notices.

The journal may identify itself as the original scholarly publisher without claiming exclusive ownership of the authors' copyright.

The publication arrangement must remain consistent with the terms accepted by authors through the journal's official submission and publishing process.

4. Creative Commons License

JIEEd publishes articles under the following:

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Official license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

This license provides a standardized legal framework for sharing and reusing published research while protecting appropriate attribution to the original authors.

4.1 Permissions Granted by the License

Subject to the license conditions, users may:

Share

Copy and redistribute the licensed material in any medium or format, including online platforms, repositories, printed materials, and educational resources.

Adapt

Remix, transform, translate, or build upon the licensed material.

Reuse for Educational and Research Purposes

Incorporate licensed content into academic teaching, scholarly analysis, training materials, research publications, and other legitimate educational activities.

Reuse for Commercial Purposes

Use or adapt licensed material for commercial as well as non-commercial purposes.

Additional individual permission is not required for activities already authorized by the license, provided that its conditions are followed.

4.2 License Conditions

Users must comply with three principal requirements.

Attribution (BY)

Users must provide appropriate credit to the original creators, acknowledge the source, link to the license, and indicate whether modifications have been made.

Attribution must not imply endorsement by the original authors, journal, or publisher.

ShareAlike (SA)

When users adapt licensed material and distribute the adaptation, they must license their contributions under CC BY-SA 4.0 or a license officially recognized as compatible with it.

No Additional Restrictions

Users must not impose additional legal terms or technological restrictions that prevent others from exercising rights granted by the license.

4.3 Continuing Effect of the License

The permissions granted under CC BY-SA 4.0 cannot ordinarily be withdrawn from users who continue to comply with its terms.

Changes to the journal's future licensing policy do not automatically revoke rights already granted under the applicable license.

The Creative Commons license does not override applicable privacy, publicity, moral, or third-party intellectual property rights.

5. Copyright and Licensing Summary

Policy Component	JIEEd Provision
Copyright Holder	Original author(s)
Copyright Transfer	Not required
Publication Rights	Non-exclusive rights granted to JIEEd
Open Access Model	Immediate open access
License	CC BY-SA 4.0
Reader Access	Free of charge
Commercial Reuse	Permitted under license conditions
Adaptation and Translation	Permitted under license conditions
Attribution	Required
ShareAlike	Required for distributed adaptations
Author Self-Archiving	Permitted
Repository Embargo	None imposed by JIEEd on the published article
Article Processing Charge	USD 0

This summary should be read together with the full Creative Commons license terms and the journal's Open Access Policy.

6. Attribution and Citation Requirements

JIEEd encourages appropriate citation and acknowledgment whenever published articles are shared, reproduced, translated, or adapted.

Users should provide sufficient information to identify the original scholarly publication.

6.1 Recommended Attribution Elements

Appropriate attribution generally includes:

The original author's names.
The article title.
The journal title is Journal of Integrated Elementary Education.
The publication year.
Relevant volume, issue, and page or article information.
The DOI or permanent article URL.
A link to the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
An indication of changes where the material has been adapted.

6.2 Attribution Example

Adapted from [Author(s)], “[Article Title],” Journal of Integrated Elementary Education, [Year], [DOI]. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made to the original material.

This example should be adapted to the actual publication.

6.3 Scholarly Citation and Legal Attribution

Proper academic citation and compliance with Creative Commons attribution requirements are related but distinct responsibilities.

Users must provide appropriate scholarly citations when relying on published research and satisfy the relevant license conditions when reproducing or adapting licensed material.

The license does not authorize plagiarism, misrepresentation of findings, or misleading attribution.

7. Author Self-Archiving and Repository Rights

JIEEd supports author self-archiving to strengthen the dissemination and discoverability of published scholarship.

Authors may deposit and share the published version of their articles through:

Institutional repositories.
Disciplinary research repositories.
Academic and university websites.
Personal scholarly websites.
Other lawful research-sharing platforms.

7.1 Published Version

Authors may share the final published version of their article without an embargo imposed by JIEEd.

Repository deposits should identify the article's original publication and provide a link to the official DOI or journal webpage.

7.2 Acknowledgment of Original Publication

Authors should include the following information when redistributing an article:

Full bibliographic citation.
Name of the journal.
Official DOI or permanent article link.
Applicable Creative Commons license.

7.3 Separate Distribution Agreements

Authors may enter into separate, non-exclusive arrangements for distributing their published work.

Such arrangements must not conflict with rights already granted under CC BY-SA 4.0 or misrepresent the original publication.

For example, authors may incorporate their published article into an academic collection or book, provided that applicable license requirements are respected.

8. Preprints and Earlier Manuscript Versions

JIEEd recognizes that authors may disseminate research through preprint repositories, conference platforms, or other scholarly channels before formal journal publication.

Authors must disclose relevant prior dissemination where required by the journal's Author Guidelines and publication ethics policies.

8.1 Preprint Disclosure

When relevant, authors should identify:

The repository or platform.
The preprint title.
The date of dissemination.
The permanent URL or identifier.
Relevant differences between the preprint and the submitted manuscript.

Previous dissemination is evaluated in the context of originality, publication overlap, and the journal's editorial requirements.

8.2 Version Identification

Authors should distinguish among manuscript versions, including:

The original submitted manuscript.
An accepted author manuscript.
The final published version.

When sharing earlier versions after publication, authors are encouraged to link to the final journal article.

8.3 Avoiding Duplicate Publication

Self-archiving and legitimate preprint dissemination do not remove the responsibility to disclose related work or avoid inappropriate duplicate publication.

Authors must not misrepresent previously disseminated research as entirely unpublished when doing so would materially affect editorial evaluation.

9. Third-Party Copyrighted Materials

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all third-party materials included in their manuscripts are used lawfully.

Such materials may include:

Previously published figures and tables.
Photographs and illustrations.
Maps, diagrams, and visual resources.
Research instruments and assessment materials.
Proprietary educational resources.
Copyrighted text or translated material.
Other materials are owned by third parties.

9.1 Permission Requirements

Authors must obtain permission where required by copyright law, contractual restrictions, or applicable licensing conditions.

Appropriate citation alone does not necessarily authorize reproduction of copyrighted material.

Authors should provide accurate source acknowledgment and retain documentation of relevant permissions.

9.2 Third-Party Licensing Restrictions

Material belonging to third parties may not be covered by the article's CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Where necessary, authors must clearly identify material that is excluded from the Creative Commons license and specify applicable reuse restrictions.

9.3 Responsibility for Permissions

Authors are responsible for resolving copyright and permission matters before publication.

The journal may request documentation when legitimate concerns arise regarding the use of third-party content.

10. Copyright, Privacy, and Research Involving Children

JIEEd recognizes that intellectual property rights and participant privacy are distinct legal and ethical matters.

An open-access copyright license does not authorize the unrestricted disclosure or reuse of confidential research information.

Because JIEEd publishes research involving elementary education, particular attention must be given to the protection of children and other research participants.

10.1 Images and Identifiable Information

Authors must ensure that the publication of identifiable photographs, videos, recordings, student work, or personal information is supported by appropriate authorization and ethical safeguards.

Where required, parental or legal guardian consent and age-appropriate child assent must be obtained.

Permission to conduct research does not automatically authorize the unrestricted online publication of identifiable participant information.

10.2 Protection of Participant Rights

Open-access licensing does not override:

Privacy and confidentiality rights.
Research-ethics obligations.
Consent limitations.
Applicable data-protection requirements.
Third-party intellectual property rights.

When publication or redistribution may expose participants to identification or harm, authors must apply appropriate restrictions or avoid disclosure.

10.3 Research Data

The CC BY-SA 4.0 license applying to a published article does not automatically establish the licensing status of its underlying datasets.

Research data are governed by the journal's separate Research Data Policy, applicable data rights, participant consent, and ethical restrictions.

11. Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property

The use of AI-assisted technologies in research and manuscript preparation must comply with the journal's AI Use Policy.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content does not violate copyright, licensing conditions, privacy obligations, or scholarly integrity requirements.

11.1 AI-Assisted Content

Authors must verify the origin, accuracy, and lawful use of substantive AI-assisted material included in their manuscripts.

AI-generated material must not be presented as an authentic third-party source, actual research observation, or copyrighted work belonging exclusively to the authors when such claims are not justified.

11.2 Copyright Compliance

Authors must not use AI systems to reproduce protected works unlawfully, conceal unattributed material, or circumvent legitimate copyright restrictions.

The legal protection available for AI-generated material may depend on applicable law and the extent of human intellectual contribution.

11.3 AI Disclosure

Substantive AI assistance must be disclosed in accordance with JIEEd's AI Use Policy.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Human authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and legal compliance of the published manuscript.

12. Reuse, Adaptation, and Scientific Integrity

The Creative Commons license permits reuse and adaptation but does not authorize distortion or misrepresentation of scholarly findings.

Users must not present adapted research material as though it were an unchanged original publication.

12.1 Translations

Translations may be produced under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, subject to attribution and ShareAlike requirements when the adaptation is shared.

Users should identify the original publication and indicate that the material has been translated.

12.2 Adapted Educational Materials

Published content may be adapted for educational resources, training materials, or scholarly communication.

Distributed adaptations must comply with applicable licensing requirements.

12.3 Preservation of Scientific Meaning

Users should accurately represent the findings, context, qualifications, and limitations of the original research.

The CC BY-SA 4.0 license does not imply that JIEEd or the original authors endorse subsequent adaptations, interpretations, or derivative works.

13. Licensing of Corrections and Retractions

JIEEd maintains transparency concerning the publication status of scholarly articles.

When a correction, expression of concern, or retraction is issued, the journal follows its established post-publication policies.

13.1 Corrections

Formal corrections should identify the affected publication and explain substantive changes.

Copyright and licensing information should remain clear and consistent with the corrected content.

13.2 Retractions

Retraction identifies a published work that should no longer be relied upon as a valid scholarly contribution.

A retraction does not automatically revoke copyright or the Creative Commons permissions already granted to compliant users.

Retracted articles should ordinarily remain accessible with prominent notice of their retraction status.

13.3 Exceptional Removal

Published content may be removed or restricted in exceptional circumstances involving serious legal, privacy, ethical, or safety concerns.

Such action must follow the journal's Corrections and Retractions Policy.

14. Copyright Infringement and Licensing Complaints

JIEEd takes credible concerns regarding copyright infringement, unauthorized reproduction, improper attribution, or licensing violations seriously.

Individuals who identify a potential problem may contact the editorial office.

14.1 Reporting a Concern

Reports should provide, where available:

Identification of the article or material concerned.
A description of the alleged copyright or licensing issue.
Relevant evidence of ownership or applicable rights.
Links or copies of the affected materials.
Contact information for further clarification.

14.2 Editorial Assessment

The journal reviews relevant information and may request clarification from the authors or other parties.

Appropriate actions may include:

Correcting attribution or licensing information.
Clarifying third-party rights.
Replacing or removing improperly included materials.
Publishing a correction when necessary.
Referring substantial ethical concerns to the applicable Research Misconduct procedures.
Taking further action when required by law or established publication policy.

A complaint alone does not establish copyright infringement or misconduct.

15. Policy Implementation and Review

The Editor-in-Chief and publisher are responsible for maintaining the clarity and consistency of copyright and licensing information across JIEEd's publication channels.

The journal seeks to ensure that relevant licensing information is communicated through:

The official Copyright Notice.
The Open Access Policy.
The submission and publication terms.
Published article webpages.
Article PDFs and other published formats.
Relevant article metadata, where supported.

JIEEd periodically reviews this policy to reflect developments in copyright law, open-access licensing, scholarly publishing, and digital dissemination.

Any substantive policy changes will be communicated through the journal's official website.

Related Journal Policies

Author Guidelines
Open Access Policy
Copyright Notice
Author Fees
Publication Ethics
Archiving Policy
Research Data Policy
AI Use Policy
Corrections and Retractions Policy
Journal Contact

Copyright and Licensing Policy