Terms and Conditions: Governing Multidisciplinary Publication

Introduction: Welcome to the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Research and Trends (IJMAT). As a premier open-access, international, and multi-disciplinary journal, we are committed to advancing and disseminating high-impact research. By accessing, submitting to, or using content from IJMAT, you are entering into a binding agreement with these Terms and Conditions. This governs your engagement with our website, submission process, and publication practices.

1. The Open Access Mandate (CC BY 4.0)

Global Accessibility is Our Core: All scholarly content published by IJMAT is immediately and freely accessible worldwide under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

• User Rights: You are free to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of any article, provided you give proper attribution to the original author(s) and IJMAT.

• Compliance: All users must adhere to the CC BY 4.0 terms, available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

• No Barriers: IJMAT operates without any subscription fees or access barriers, fully aligning with the principles of open scholarship.

2. Publication and Manuscript Ownership

Your Research, Your Rights, Our Platform:

• Eligibility and Originality: Submissions are accepted from global researchers whose work aligns with IJMAT’s scope and guidelines. By submitting, authors confirm the manuscript is original, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration elsewhere.

• Copyright and License: Authors retain the copyright to their work. However, by submitting, authors grant IJMAT a non-exclusive right to publish and distribute the work under the aforementioned CC BY 4.0 license.

• Peer Review Commitment: Authors agree to fully participate in our rigorous double-blind peer review process and to address reviewer feedback constructively as required for publication acceptance.

• Article Processing Charges (APCs): To sustain our open-access model, accepted manuscripts may be subject to an APC. Applicable fees, eligibility for waivers, or discounts (e.g., for authors from low/middle-income countries) will be communicated during the submission process. Details on APCs are available upon request at editor@ijmat.org.

• Long-Term Archiving: Published articles are securely archived in recognized digital repositories to guarantee permanent accessibility and preservation.

3. Non-Negotiable Ethical Standards

Integrity is Mandatory: IJMAT strictly adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

• Compliance: Authors, reviewers, and editors must comply with all policies regarding authorship, conflicts of interest, data transparency, and ethical research conduct.

• Misconduct Policy: We utilize plagiarism detection software. Any confirmed instance of plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or other misconduct will result in immediate rejection or subsequent retraction in accordance with COPE protocols.

• Authorship Integrity: All listed authors must have made a significant contribution to the research and agreed to the submission. Changes to authorship post-submission require written consent from all authors and editorial approval.

• Ethical Approvals: Research involving human participants or animals must include a clear statement confirming ethical approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent body, with documented informed consent where applicable.

4. User and Intellectual Property Responsibilities

Accountability and IP Rights:

• Website Use: Users agree to use the IJMAT website for lawful purposes only and refrain from any activity that disrupts its functionality or compromises data security (e.g., hacking, unauthorized access).

• Third-Party Content: Authors are solely responsible for obtaining and documenting all necessary permissions for any third-party material (e.g., figures, images, large quotes) included in their manuscript.

• Journal IP: All IJMAT website content, excluding published articles (which are CC BY 4.0), including the logo, design, and proprietary text, remains the intellectual property of the publisher and may not be reproduced without explicit permission.

5. Corrections, Retractions, and Appeals

Maintaining the Scholarly Record:

• Corrections: Errors in published articles will be corrected promptly via formal Errata or Corrigenda notices clearly linked to the original article.

• Retractions: IJMAT reserves the right to retract any article found to be in violation of ethical standards, with the retracted article remaining accessible but clearly marked with a retraction notice.

• Appeals: Authors may appeal editorial decisions by contacting editor@ijmat.org. Appeals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editorial board member, following rigorous COPE guidelines.

6. Governing Law and Final Provisions

• Governing Law: These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, and the relevant jurisdiction shall be Tirupati, India.

• Liability: IJMAT is not liable for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of published content or the journal’s website. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their manuscript’s content.

• Privacy: Personal information collected (names, emails, affiliations) is used solely for manuscript processing, review, and communication, in compliance with applicable data protection laws. Refer to our Privacy Policy for full details.

• Updates: IJMAT reserves the right to update these Terms at any time. The revised terms will be posted on the website and take effect immediately. Continued use constitutes acceptance of the new terms.

Effective Date: 15th October, 2025

Contact Information: editor@ijmat.org Postal Address: EDTECH PUBLISHERS (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED, 6/48, Near Chrysalis High School, Balaji Layout, Horamavu Agara, Horamavu, Bengaluru, Karnataka, INDIA, PIN: 560016