Archived Policy

The Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Life Sciences journal is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of all published content. This Archiving Policy outlines our approach to archiving, digital preservation, and the measures in place to ensure that the research we publish remains accessible to researchers and institutions worldwide.

1. Digital Preservation and Long-Term Accessibility:

  • Archiving Partners: To safeguard the long-term accessibility of our published content, the journal collaborates with trusted archiving services, including LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and CLOCKSS (Controlled Locking of Content to Ensure Stewardship of Scholarly Literature). These services ensure that the journal’s content is preserved and made accessible even if there are disruptions to the journal's primary publishing platform.

  • Institutional and Repository Deposits: All articles published in Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Life Sciences are archived in widely recognized institutional repositories and public archives. Authors are encouraged to deposit their final accepted manuscripts in their institutional repositories to enhance the visibility and accessibility of their research.

2. Open Access and Public Availability:

  • Open Access Commitment: As part of our open-access publishing model, all articles published in the journal are freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection, ensuring that knowledge is available to the global scientific community without any access barriers or paywalls.

  • Public Repositories and Indexing: In addition to our primary archiving systems, articles are indexed in major databases and repositories, such as PubMed Central, Google Scholar, DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), and CrossRef. This increases the discoverability of the journal’s content and ensures its preservation in widely used repositories for easy access by researchers, educators, and practitioners.

3. Author Self-Archiving:

  • Encouraging Self-Archiving: Authors are encouraged to deposit their final, accepted manuscripts (also known as the author’s post-print) in institutional or public repositories. These archived versions may be made freely available to the public, which supports the global dissemination of research findings.

  • Data Sharing and Supplementary Materials: Authors are encouraged to share their research data, supplementary materials, and methodologies in publicly accessible databases and repositories, whenever possible. This promotes transparency, facilitates reproducibility, and increases the value of the research published in the journal.

4. Backup and Redundancy:

  • Secure Backup Systems: All published content is securely stored and backed up using multiple methods to ensure redundancy and prevent data loss. The journal uses both cloud-based storage solutions and local backups to safeguard the integrity of its content.

  • Periodic Archival Checks: To ensure the continued preservation of published content, the journal conducts periodic checks of the digital archive and collaborates with partners to ensure that articles remain accessible over time.

5. Retractions, Corrections, and Withdrawals:

  • Retraction Policy: If a published article is found to contain serious errors, ethical violations, or other misconduct, the article will be retracted. Retractions are clearly marked on the article’s page, and a retraction notice will explain the reason for the retraction.

  • Corrections: If an error is identified in a published article, a correction will be issued. The correction will be clearly indicated, ensuring that readers can access both the original article and the corrected version.

  • Withdrawal and Reposting: If an article is withdrawn after publication, it will remain archived with a clear notice of withdrawal. This helps maintain the academic integrity of the journal by documenting all changes to the published record.

6. Compliance with International Archiving Standards:

  • Adherence to Standards: The journal adheres to the best practices outlined by organizations such as the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), and other relevant entities. These guidelines ensure that all content is preserved according to international standards for academic publishing.

  • Continual Review of Archiving Policies: The archiving policies of Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Life Sciences are regularly reviewed and updated to keep pace with new advancements in digital preservation technologies and open-access publishing standards. The goal is to maintain the long-term accessibility and discoverability of the journal’s content.

7. Sustainability and Environmental Considerations:

While Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Life Sciences primarily publishes content in an open-access digital format, we recognize that some readers may require printed copies for reference or institutional use. We encourage libraries and institutions to promote the digital version as the primary mode of access to reduce the environmental impact associated with printing and shipping.

8. Archiving and Research Reproducibility:

  • Transparency and Reproducibility: The journal promotes open science and encourages authors to make their data and methodologies publicly available. This includes making research datasets, experimental protocols, and supplementary material available in open-access repositories where applicable. By doing so, we contribute to the reproducibility and transparency of scientific research.

  • Retention of Published Data: The data, findings, and methodologies published in Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and Life Sciences are archived indefinitely, allowing future generations of researchers to access and build upon the work.