Open Access Policy

SHIELD: Journal of Studies on Human Interaction, Education, and Language Development is a staunch advocate for open access in academic publishing. We believe that immediate, free access to research supports a greater global exchange of knowledge, enriching the realms of human interaction, education, and language development. This policy outlines our commitment to making research freely available to scholars, practitioners, and the public worldwide, ensuring that anyone can benefit from the valuable work of our authors.

Our Open Access License: CC BY-SA 4.0

To embody our dedication to open knowledge, all articles published by SHIELD are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This license allows for the sharing and adaptation of the work, under the following terms:

  • Attribution: You must give appropriate credit to the original authors and SHIELD, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You must do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the endorser endorses you or your use.
  • ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

This approach to licensing encourages the dissemination and use of licensed materials in the most expansive way possible, while ensuring that authors receive proper credit for their work.

Benefits of Open Access

For Authors: Open access publication with SHIELD ensures that your work reaches the widest possible audience, without barriers. Your work will be more readily discoverable, accessible, and citable, enhancing your impact and visibility in your field.

For Readers: Readers around the world can access SHIELD content without subscription fees or access barriers, fostering global knowledge exchange and collaboration across disciplines and beyond academic circles.

For Science and Society: Open access accelerates the pace of discovery, innovation, and knowledge creation. It supports a more informed and educated public and helps policymakers and practitioners to apply scientific evidence in decision-making.

Compliance with Institutional and Funder Mandates

Many funding agencies and institutions require the outputs of the research they support to be published under an open access model. SHIELD's use of the CC BY-SA 4.0 license ensures compliance with these mandates, facilitating the broad dissemination of publicly funded research.

Archiving and Preservation

SHIELD is committed to the long-term preservation of its content. We ensure that all published articles are archived with multiple digital preservation services to safeguard access to our corpus for posterity.

Our Commitment

SHIELD's open access policy reflects our commitment to a sustainable and accessible scholarly communication ecosystem. We champion the principles of openness, inclusivity, and the public good in academic publishing.