Kobe Journal of Medical Sciences has introduced the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC BY 4.0) for articles published on or after July 1, 2024. Accordingly, articles published on or after that date, remaining under the copyright of the journal's publishing body, may be reused or modified, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given and any modifications are clearly indicated.

Meanwhile, articles published on or before June 30, 2024, have not been retroactively covered by CC BY 4.0, resulting in differences in terms of use depending on the publication date. To further promote openness and reuse of academic achievements, the journal has decided to apply CC BY 4.0 retroactively to articles published on or before June 30, 2024.

If you are an author who published during this period and have any comments or questions regarding this policy, we kindly ask you to contact us at the address below by Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

If no objections are received by the deadline, we will consider that you have accepted this policy. However, even if we receive communications after the deadline, we will respond as much as possible.

This initiative aims to ensure proper openness and smooth utilization of academic achievements published in this journal. We sincerely appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all our authors.

Kobe Journal of Medical Sciences Publisher
E-mail: journal@med.kobe-u.ac.jp