Repository Policy

Which Versions You May Deposit

APCR imposes no embargo on self-archiving. Authors are encouraged to deposit the VoR wherever permitted to maximize discoverability.

Permitted Repository Locations

• Institutional repositories (university, hospital, research institute).
• Subject repositories in biomedical and life sciences.
• Funder-mandated repositories that require immediate open access deposit.
• Personal/group websites and professional networks that respect open licenses.
• Preprint servers for early dissemination and community feedback.

Required Notices and Citation

All deposits must contain the following elements to protect the version of record and ensure accurate attribution:

• Full citation including authors, article title, journal name (Archives of Pathology and Clinical Research), year, volume/issue, and page range (if applicable).
• Persistent identifiers — the article DOI and the canonical article URL.
• License statement — the Creative Commons license applied to the article.
• Version label — clearly indicate Preprint, AAM, or VoR.
• Change note — for preprints/AAMs, add: “This is not the version of record; the final published version is available at the DOI above.”

When depositing the AAM, retain author formatting but do not replicate the journal’s typeset layout or logos to avoid confusion with the VoR.

Minimum Metadata for Deposits

To enable indexing and accurate harvesting, include the following fields wherever your repository allows:

• Title; author names; affiliations; ORCID IDs (when available).
• Abstract; keywords; article type.
• DOI; publication year; volume/issue; pages or article number.
• Funding statement and grant identifiers when applicable.
• License URI and text (e.g., CC BY 4.0).
• Data availability statement with repository links and persistent identifiers for datasets/code.

Reuse Rights and Licenses

APCR publishes under open licenses that permit sharing and adaptation with attribution. Deposited versions must display the same license and credit line as the published article. Third-party content included in your article may carry different terms; ensure that permission or compatible licenses are documented and that captions/credit lines specify any restrictions.

Preprints and Version Linking

If you post a preprint, include the journal name upon submission and add the DOI immediately after publication. Where the preprint server supports it, link the preprint record to the VoR and update the license and citation to match the final article. When revising a preprint, preserve version history with clear date stamps.

Machine-Readable Open Access

For maximum interoperability, repositories should expose machine-readable metadata:

• Embed <meta property="article:doi"> and schema.org JSON-LD for article identifiers and licenses.
• Include license URLs in metadata (e.g., https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
• Offer OAI-PMH endpoints and support for common export formats such as Dublin Core and DataCite.

Compliance With Funder and Institutional Mandates

Deposits to satisfy funder or institutional requirements are permitted immediately on acceptance (AAM) or publication (VoR). Authors are responsible for providing any required rights retention statements at submission and for depositing to designated portals where required by policy.

Preservation, Updates, and Corrections

The version of record is kept permanently available on the journal site. If you discover an error in a deposited version, update the repository record and, if the VoR is affected, contact the editorial office so that the published record can be corrected with an erratum or corrigendum as appropriate. Repository records should reflect the most recent status and link to any notices.