JOURNAL POLICIES
These policies cover open access, rights, licensing, and archiving. For guidance on peer review, authorship, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), originality, and research ethics, see the Instructions to Authors page.
Open Access Policy
The Cyber Defense Review follows a platinum open-access model. We are committed to equitable access and wide dissemination of research that contributes to cyber defense scholarship and practice.
All articles are freely accessible to readers worldwide without subscription fees or paywalls, immediately upon publication. The Cyber Defense Review does not charge any fees to authors, whether for submission or publication of manuscripts. The journal does not profit from submissions, nor does it compensate authors.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.
All articles are published under the . This license permits others to share the work with appropriate acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in the journal, for non-commercial purposes and without modification.
An exception applies to works produced by certain categories of government employees as part of their official duties. In particular, works created by U.S. Federal Government employees within the scope of their employment are not eligible for copyright protection within the United States and are considered to be in the public domain (17 U.S.C. § 105). This status is indicated in the copyright statement on the cover page of each article.
Upon request, the authors may publish their work under a CC-BY 4.0 Creative Commons License, when it is required by a funding agency.
Author Rights & Licensing
- Authors retain copyright in their work.
- Authors grant The Cyber Defense Review the right of first publication under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
- Authors may enter into additional non-exclusive agreements for the non-commercial distribution of the published version, provided that its initial publication in The Cyber Defense Review is acknowledged.
- Authors may deposit the published PDF in institutional repositories or on personal websites, with proper citation to The Cyber Defense Review.
Special Note on U.S. Government Works
Works created by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are not subject to copyright protection under U.S. law (17 U.S.C. § 105). Such works may be published by The Cyber Defense Review; however, they are not subject to standard copyright or licensing terms. Authors must clearly indicate their status at the time of submission. Where applicable, distribution and reuse are governed by U.S. Government policies.
Disclaimer
In accordance with the U.S. Joint Ethics Regulation, The Cyber Defense Review does not screen submissions to fit a particular editorial agenda. Publication in The Cyber Defense Review does not constitute endorsement of the views expressed, nor of any organizations referenced therein. Submission of an article does not create a contractual relationship between the author(s) and The Cyber Defense Review, and does not transfer rights beyond those explicitly stated in these policies and the signed author agreement.
Archiving & Digital Preservation
The Cyber Defense Review ensures long-term digital preservation and accessibility of all published content through recognized archiving and indexing services. Content published in the journal is preserved through the U.S. Military Academy Library, the U.S. Library of Congress, and additional services, including JSTOR. Authors are encouraged to deposit accepted manuscripts in institutional or subject repositories, provided that a link to the version of record in The Cyber Defense Review is included. Each article is registered with Crossref and assigned a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier), ensuring a permanent and citable record.
Indexing & Discovery
The Cyber Defense Review is indexed in JSTOR and Google Scholar.
Repository Policy
Authors are permitted and encouraged to deposit all versions of their manuscript in institutional or subject repositories, as follows:
- Submitted version (Preprint): Authors may share the submitted version of their manuscript at any time, including prior to submission to the journal. See further details in the "Preprints Policy" section on the Instructions to Authors page.
- Accepted version (Author Accepted Manuscript, AAM): Authors may deposit the accepted version of their manuscript upon acceptance. For the purposes of repository deposit, the AAM is defined as the version of the manuscript that has been accepted for publication and incorporates all revisions required during peer review and copyediting, as approved by the authors. Authors are requested not to deposit earlier accepted drafts that do not reflect copyediting changes. In cases where acceptance is conditional upon minor editorial or copyediting revisions, the AAM is considered finalized only after these revisions have been completed and validated by the authors.
- Published version (Version of Record): Authors may deposit the final published PDF, provided that proper citation to The Cyber Defense Review is included, along with a link to the version of record via its DOI.
All deposited versions must clearly indicate the publication status of the manuscript and include an appropriate citation to the journal. Authors are encouraged to update repository records with a link to the final published version once available.
The journal does not impose any embargo period on repository deposit.
Contact
For questions regarding rights or licensing, please contact the editorial office at: TheCyberDefenseReview@westpoint.edu
Publication Details
- Online ISSN:
- Print ISSN:
- DOI Prefix: 10.55682 (CrossRef)
- Publisher Location: United States
Last updated: April 2026