Authors who publish in the British Journal of Surgical Science (BJSS) retain the copyright to their work. Upon acceptance, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, and archive the article.

This means authors keep full ownership of their content and may reuse, share, or distribute it freely, provided that the original publication in BJSS is acknowledged.

BJSS retains the right to:

• Publish the final version of the article.
• Preserve and archive the article in digital repositories.
• Maintain an authoritative version of record.

These rights are non-exclusive, allowing authors to distribute their work in any form, including uploading the final published PDF to institutional or subject repositories.