Open Access Policy

Smart Ship Technologies (SST) is a Gold Open Access (Gold OA) journal published by Explorer Press Ltd. All scholarly articles are made freely and immediately available online in their final published Version of Record (VOR) following publication.

Readers do not need a subscription or registration to access, read, download, or share published articles. The journal is committed to promoting the broad and timely dissemination of research in smart ship technologies, maritime engineering, intelligent navigation, and related fields, and to facilitating access to scholarly knowledge by readers worldwide.

Open Access Model

Smart Ship Technologies operates under a Gold Open Access model. Published articles are freely accessible online immediately upon publication, without a subscription or paywall and without an embargo period.

Immediate Access

Published articles are freely available to readers immediately after publication.

Global Accessibility

Researchers, maritime professionals, engineers, and other interested readers worldwide can access published research without a journal subscription.

Open Reuse

Published articles can be shared and adapted under the applicable CC BY 4.0 license.

Open Access License

All articles published by Smart Ship Technologies are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated for specific third-party material.

Under the CC BY 4.0 license, users may share, copy, redistribute, and adapt the published work in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made to the original work are indicated.

Third-Party Material

Authors are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights and permissions for third-party material included in their manuscripts. Material that is not covered by the article's CC BY 4.0 license should be clearly identified, and appropriate permission or licensing information should be provided where required.

Immediate and Unrestricted Access

The journal does not impose an embargo period on published scholarly articles. The final Version of Record is made available immediately upon publication through the journal website and can be accessed without charge by readers worldwide.

Open access is provided independently of the ability of individual readers or institutions to pay for access. Readers are not required to purchase a subscription or pay an article access fee to read or download published research articles.

Benefits of Open Access

The Gold Open Access model supports the broad dissemination and responsible reuse of scholarly research. Key benefits include:

  1. Immediate Accessibility: Research is available to readers worldwide immediately after publication without subscription or paywall restrictions.
  2. Global Dissemination: Open access facilitates the discovery and distribution of research across institutions, disciplines, geographical regions, and professional communities.
  3. Knowledge Exchange: Freely accessible research can facilitate communication and knowledge exchange among researchers working in maritime technology, naval architecture, marine engineering, intelligent transportation, and related fields.
  4. Support for Research and Practice: Openly accessible research can be consulted by researchers, educators, ship designers, marine engineers, maritime operators, technology developers, policymakers, and other stakeholders where relevant to their work.

Open Science and Research Accessibility

Smart Ship Technologies supports the principles of open science, transparency, accessibility, and responsible scholarly communication.

Open access facilitates the dissemination of research concerning smart ship technologies, including intelligent navigation, autonomous and connected ships, marine propulsion, maritime digitalization, ship energy efficiency, green maritime technologies, ship control and automation, marine sensing, communication systems, and related engineering and technological applications.

By making published research freely accessible, the journal seeks to facilitate the exchange of knowledge across maritime industries, engineering disciplines, research institutions, and geographical regions, while supporting the responsible application of research findings.

Where authors are subject to funder, institutional, or national open-access requirements, authors remain responsible for ensuring that their submissions and research outputs comply with the applicable requirements.

The journal's open access model is intended to contribute to the wider dissemination and responsible reuse of scholarly knowledge while maintaining appropriate standards of peer review, publication ethics, research integrity, copyright, and licensing.

For further information about reuse and licensing, please visit the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license page.