Intellectual Property

Authors must have a valid legal basis for including and publishing all material in their manuscripts. This policy covers attribution, permissions, and third-party rights. Copyright ownership and the journal’s publication license are described on the Copyright and Permission Statement page.

1. Author Responsibility
Authors must identify any material owned by others, including text, images, maps, instruments, musical examples, datasets, software, and archival materials. Attribution is required where appropriate, but it does not replace permission where permission is legally necessary.

A valid basis for reuse may come from ownership, an applicable license, specific permission, public-domain status, or a legal exception. Authors must assess the basis that applies to each item and to its intended use, rather than assume that all cited material may be reproduced.

2. Third-Party Material in CC BY 4.0 Articles
Al-Muhafidz publishes articles under the CC BY 4.0 license. Authors must be able to grant this license for the material they contribute and control.

Third-party material that is not covered by the article’s CC BY 4.0 license must carry a clear credit line. The credit line should identify the rights holder and source, state the separate terms that apply, and indicate that the material is excluded from the article license. Any permissions obtained must cover the intended publication.

The exclusion applies only to the specific material concerned, not to the whole article. Material that cannot be reused must be replaced, removed, or presented on a valid and clearly explained basis. The journal may request documentation before publication.

3. Attribution and Existing Rights
Credit reproduced or adapted material accurately, indicate any modifications where required, and include the relevant license links and notices. Material that is available online is not automatically in the public domain.

Material already published under CC BY 4.0 may be reused under the terms of that license, without additional permission for the rights the license grants. Al-Muhafidz does not impose non-commercial restrictions, approval requirements, or other extra conditions on content that is validly licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Copyright permission does not necessarily resolve privacy, publicity, confidentiality, patent, or other rights. The protection of research participants is addressed under Ethical Oversight. Authors should resolve any patent or contractual restrictions before making the material public.

4. Rights Concerns
A rights holder may contact the journal at [almuhafidzjurnal@gmail.com], providing the article identifier, the material concerned, the basis of their ownership or authority, and supporting evidence. The journal will assess the claim and, where appropriate, ask the relevant parties for clarification.

Where legal ownership is disputed, the matter may need to be decided by a competent body. Any resulting change to published content will follow the Publication Ethics policy and the applicable [Correction] procedure. Where the change affects the published record itself, the record will be updated in accordance with the Scholarly Record Update policy. Content will not be removed automatically on the basis of an allegation alone.