Open Access Policy

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, is fully dedicated to advancing evidence-based healthcare, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and allied medical disciplines through immediate, free, and unrestricted access to scientific research. All peer-reviewed articles accepted by JECH are made freely available online immediately upon publication without any embargo period.

 

JECH adheres to the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). Accordingly, readers and the global scientific community are permitted to:

  • Read

  • Download

  • Copy

  • Distribute

  • Print

  • Search

  • Link to the full text of articles

  • Use the content for any other lawful academic, clinical, or educational purpose

These permissions apply without financial, technical, or legal barriers, and without requiring advance authorization from the authors or the publisher, provided proper credit and citation are accorded to the original work.

Licensing

All research published in JECH is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under the terms of this open-access license:

  • Anyone is free to share, copy, and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

  • Re-users may adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the published work.

  • Material may be used for any lawful purpose, including commercial applications, provided proper attribution is given to the original authors and JECH as the original place of publication.

Access and Charges

  •  

    Complete Open Access: Readers enjoy unrestricted access to all published volumes and clinical research articles.

  • No Barrier Access: No user registration or subscription account is required to browse or view content.

  •  

    Free Downloads: PDF downloads of all published manuscripts are available without cost globally.

  • No Subscriptions: The journal does not charge individual or institutional subscription fees.

  •  

    Processing Charges: Applicable Article Processing Charges (APCs)—set at 26,000 PKR for authors in Pakistan and 100 USD for international authors upon formal acceptance—are described in detail within our Submissions Pathway and APC Policy. Any fee adjustments or waivers are handled under general editor-discretion criteria.

Copyright

Authors publishing in JECH retain full, unrestricted copyright of their published manuscripts. Authors grant EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED and JECH the non-exclusive license to publish, index, and distribute the work globally under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Archiving and Availability

To safeguard the permanent availability of the scientific record, JECH ensures long-term preservation and continuous open access for all published articles through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP-PN).

Compliance with Funders

This Open Access Policy complies fully with global open access mandates, standards, and publishing guidance frameworks, including:

  • Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI)

  •  

    ICMJE Recommendations

  • Plan S open-access requirements

  • WHO and NIH public access directives

  • Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan open access standards