Key considerations for using third party content in your article

It’s common practice for third party content (in part or in whole) to be used in research articles. But, certain conditions must be carefully followed to make sure the use of the third party content is legal.

Use this guidance to fully understand what you must consider before using third party content in your research article.

What is third party content? 

Throughout this page we use the term third party content. This refers to any content that belongs (whether by copyright or implicit ownership) to someone or something other than yourself.

This may include your own previous work, the work of your co-author/s, the work of another/third party, or data sources.

If you plan to use any third party content in your research, you must fully understand the potential copyright considerations and conditions for reuse. You must comply with these before you consider submitting any work that contains third party content.

Examples of third party content

In this section we have some examples of various content with different copyright status. Take a look at each example and see what permissions you must gain before you can use the content in your own work.

Copyright status

Content previously published, produced by a third party. For more information, see Understanding copyright for journal authors.

Rightsholder

Third party

Permissions for use

Must be obtained from rightsholder. Payment may be required.

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Content previously published, produced by you. For more information, see Understanding copyright for journal authors.

Rightsholder

Third party

Permissions for use

Conditions for reuse of your own work must be determined with the rightsholder.

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Out of copyright. See guidance on how long copyright lasts.

Rightsholder

None. Considered to be in public domain after copyright has expired.

Permissions for use

N/A

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Content not subject to copyright protection – made available in the public domain. See more information on the public domain.

Be aware that content on freely accessible websites (such as Wikipedia) are not automatically in the public domain.

Rightsholder

None

Permissions for use

N/A

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Published under an open access license with some restrictions – more information here.

Rightsholder

Third party (typically the author of the published work).

Permissions for use

Permission may be required depending on which OA license the content is published under.

Note: an original table from an article published under a CC-BY license would not require permission.

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Published under an open license with no restrictions (e.g. CC0 license, or Open Source Software license).

Rightsholder

None – the creator of the content has waived their rights to the content or has granted the public unconditional use.

Permissions for use

Not required

Attribution

Not required under license conditions. But required under our editorial policy for citations – therefore full attribution must be included.

Copyright status

Published by you under an open access license and where you remain copyright holder (see Choose open access when publishing your research for more information).

Rightsholder

You

Permissions for use

N/A

Attribution

Required

Copyright status

Content not copyrighted, but some restrictions for use may apply based on the type of content. See consent to publish identifiable information.

Rightsholder

None

Permissions for use

Must be obtained from any relevant parties who ‘own’ the content.

Attribution

Required

Reuse requirements for different types of content

Below we have outlined the different types of content and guidance on reuse conditions. These are general guidelines and should not be interpreted as legal advice. We recommend that you always check with the copyright owner of the content for any specific reuse conditions, and we may ask for evidence of this on submission. In the event of any dispute over third party content, we will rely on you providing evidence of your right to use the content.

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Adaptation, also known as a derivative work, is alteration of a work from its original form, typically by adding or subtracting an element, but where the original form (the underlying work) is recognisable. This is different than a redrawn work, where only the original idea, but not the form, is recognisable If the material you wish to adapt is not copyrighted, permission from the creator is required. It the material is copyrighted, follow the CC guidelines. CC licenses that include “ND” indicate “no derivatives,” such that the work cannot be adapted, altered, or otherwise modified in any way.

Copyright or permission?
Permission

Specific guidance
Algorithms are not copyright protected. Copyright law does not cover ideas, processes, methods, or systems; rather, it is the description or tangible expression of these ideas or systems that is copyrighted. If you want to use an algorithm created by another person, request written permission and attribute the creator in your work.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Graffiti/street art is copyright protected by the artist, even if the artwork doesn’t include a copyright license, and even if it was created unlawfully. Make every attempt to identify and contact the original artist to obtain permission to use their copyrighted material. This may involve contacting the owner of the “tagged” property or the local police department. Document the steps you have taken to support your efforts in the event the artist cannot be contacted.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
The rights can be retained by the artist; even if the artist has been dead for longer than the out of copyright rule. You should ask the museum for the copyright status in every case.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Artwork in a repository the artist can retain rights, or can transfer the rights to the respository. Sometimes repository owners will also charge a fee to use the artwork.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
A book author or their publisher will hold the copyright to a book. If you wish to reuse more than a few sentences for scholarly commentary or critcism, you should contact the copyright owner or rightsholder to obtain permission.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
You automatically hold the copyright to your book, unless you choose to transfer it to your publisher.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
The use of all Microsoft copyrighted content is subject to permission being given by Microsoft. Commercial reuse (for example, in an academic journal) may be prohibited.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Computer programs are considered literary works and are covered under US copyright law.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
In order for a dance to be copyrighted, it must be original and fixed in a tangible form, like a video recording.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Data sets that are entirely factual (e.g. a census report) are not copyrighted. However, you should seek explicit permission from the creator prior to use. Data sets that contain a facet of creativity may be copyrighted.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Dramatic works are copyright protected in the fixed, tangible form in which they are recorded or documented.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Embargos apply if the author is posting the Accepted Manuscript to an institutional or subject repository. Taylor & Francis mandates public access to the final version of an author manuscript twelve (12) months after the publication of the Version of Scholarly Record in science, engineering, behavioural science, and medicine; and eighteen (18) months after first publication for arts, social science, and humanities journals, in digital or print form.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Whether a screenshot involves copyright depends on what is captured within the screenshot. If copyrighted work is within the screenshot, for example, an original drawing, the screenshot is also subject to terms of that drawing’s copyright license. A screenshot could be considered a form of reproduction or a derivative work, both of which are subject to copyright terms.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
It is acceptable and commonplace to repost/share Facebook posts (text only) within the same platform or in an embedded format. If you want to include a Facebook post (text only) in your manuscript, you should request permission from the original author. Not all text that users share on Facebook is copyrightable – for example, generic comments like “I support human rights,” is unlikely to be upheld as copyrighted in courts. But even if a post is not copyrightable, you should ask the user for permission before using their post in your manuscript.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Permission or Neither

Specific guidance
Film stills can be used under Fair Use as long as they are limited in use and the article discusses them directly (i.e. not used solely for illustrative purposes). However, if you are uncertain whether you are covered under Fair Use, seek permission from the Producer or copyright holder.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Use of Flickr images depends on the image and licence applied by author. Images typically include a copyright license on their page. If there is not a license, assume that the image is copyrighted by the photographer and request permission.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Google Earth is covered under Fair Use, which means you can reuse and modify selections without permission.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Facts and government publications are not copyrightable.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Graffiti/street art is copyright protected by the artist, even if the artwork doesn’t include a copyright license, and even if it was created unlawfully. Make every attempt to identify and contact the original artist to obtain permission to use their copy.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Original images on Instragram are copyrighted by the creator. Like other social media platforms, reposting or sharing an image within the original platform is generally within the platform’s terms of use. If you wish to share an image outside of the platform, the image is subject to copyright and you must request permission to republish copyrighted material from the original author.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Maps are copyrightable and may be considered as a work of art. This includes Google Maps. The exception to this are maps produced by the federal government, such as topographic maps produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which are in the public domain.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Original maps, like original art, are copyrightable. You may decide how to copyright your map.

Copyright or permission?
Permission

Specific guidance
Equations are not copyrightable, but if they are expressed in a original way, that form may be subject to copyright.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Stock photography are images that are sold for a fee in exchange for a license. The license type varies, but generally grant permission for the purchaser to use the image without seeking additional permission from the creator.

Copyright or permission?
Permission (if able)

Specific guidance
Memes are generally fair-use and are themselves derivative (adapted) works. But you need to check if there are identifiable images of people, how/if the meme artist obtained the image, and if consent was required.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Movies are copyrighted. If you wish to use a limited number of film stills, see that section. If you wish to reproduce film script, you must request permission from the copyright holder, most likely the Producer.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Inclusion of movie lyrics or notation in your publication requires permission from the producer. There is no minimum amount of a song or notation that is exempted from copyright.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Newpaper or magazine articles are copyrighted, most often by the publisher, similar to academic journal articles.

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Users who post text or images to a dating website almost always have an expectation of privacy; that is, they would not expect their text or images to be re-used elsewhere, especially without their permission. To use text or images from a dating website, you must obtain written permission from the content creator or host.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
An orphan work is one where the creator (copyright holder) cannot be identified or contacted. The use of orphaned works is disputed, but generally is acceptable if it falls within Fair Use or Fair Dealing.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Patent and permission

Specific guidance
A patented work is an invention and is one of three types of intellectual property (patents, copyright, trademark). Aspects of a patent, such as a diagram of an invention, can be copyrighted, but the function of the machine itself is what is patented. Patents are protected and you must seek explicit permission from the patent holder prior to replicating, or documenting, aspects related to their patent. 

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Consider whether consent was provided by subjects whose faces are in the database.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Regardless of where a photo is located, the copyright is assigned to the photographer, unless they have explicitely transferred it to someone or something else. Some social media companies hold a license to use the photograph in certain ways, but they generally do not hold the copyright.

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Depends on licence. If it’s an unrestricted like CC-BY then citing the source

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Copyright in relation to the artwork pictured

Copyright or permission?
Permission

Specific guidance
Unless you took the picture on behalf of a company, or signed over the copyright, you likely are the copyright holder. If the photo includes people who could identified, you should obtain permission from those people.

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Unless you took the picture on behalf of a company, or signed over the copyright, you likely are the copyright holder. You do not need permission to publish a photo you took of a public space.

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Unless you took the picture on behalf of a company, or signed over the copyright, you likely are the copyright holder. You do not need permission to publish a photo you took of a private space.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
A podcast, or a transcript of a podcast, is copyrighted by the producer of that podcast. To republish a transcript or post a recording of the podcast, you should seek explicit permission from the producer.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Poems, like other creative works, are copyrighted by the creator, unless they transfer the copyright to a publisher. To republish a poem, you should seek permission from the copyright holder.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Questionnaires and psychometric scales, including the individual questions within them, are copyrighted. However, some questions, such as “what is your favorite color,” may fall into fair use.

Copyright or permission?
Permission

Specific guidance
You must obtain permission from source of the quote in writing before publishing quotes from private conversations.

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Quotations of published material for the purpose of scholarly commentary or critcism is an expected and permitted aspect of scholarly publishing. Quoted material should be denoted by quotation marks and you should include a citation to the original source. This level of quotation does not require permission because it falls within “fair use.” However, if you wish to quote more than a few sentences , you should contact the copyright holder to obtain permission.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
If you redraw a figure, it must be significantly different from the original – simply redrawing (tracing) the figure does not negate the original copyright status. The redrawn figure must express the idea in a novel way. 

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Permission should be sought from the rightsholder; certain journal article figures may be part of the STM Permissions guidelines exceptions.

Copyright or permission?
Depends

Specific guidance
Acceptable if the changes you’ve made transformed the figure’s meaning or expression OR add value or insight. Otherwise, copyright applies.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Scholarly articles are copyrighted by the author, the publisher, or a combination of the two. If you want to republish an entire article, or large portions of it, you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder. Quoting small sections that are directly relevant to something you are writing is acceptable under Fair Use, as long as you provide an appropriate citation.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
If you publish your article with a commercial publisher, you might have signed copyright over to them. Check the journal-author publishing agreement to see whether you or the publisher hold copyright. Authors typically retain copyright if the article is published open access (OA). In all cases, Taylor & Francis allows authors to freely share and dissiminate the Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM), also known as a preprint. The final Version of Record (VOR), which has been peer reviewed, is copyrighted by T&F, unless it is OA.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Scraped data involves both copyright and privacy/data protection law. In most cases, users retain copyright to their content and, if the content was posted privately, users may have an “expectation of privacy.” Most social media platforms state their scraping policy in their Terms of Use and require explicit permission to scrape.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
While data itself cannot be copyrighted, the creative or original display of data can be copyrighted. For example, an author might display data in a table using a pleasing color and font palate. In that case, the table can be copyrighted, but the data itself is not. However, the data may be part of a private data set, in which case you would need to obtain permission regardless of how you present or format the data.

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
If the original article is copyrighted, you will need to obtain permission prior to republishing a translation.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
If you use third-party material in your video, such as an existing table or figure, the same copyright rules apply as when these are reused in an article: you must obtain copyright permission from the copyright holder. If you created all of the material in your video and did not reuse anything, then you are the default copyright holder.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
Scripted lectures, speeches, and addresses, as well presentations (e.g. slides or videos) are copyrightable. You must obtain permission from the copyright holder if you want to reuse any of these items, whether as a quote or in a recording of your own. The person delivering the speech generally holds copyright, but if it was given as part of an employment contract, the employer may hold the copright. Beyond copyright, you should ensure the webinar host has consented to sharing of the content outside of the webinar.

Copyright or permission?
Permission

Specific guidance
WhatsApp chat users likely have an expectation of privacy, meaning they would not expect their chat to be made public. You must obtain permission from the user prior to sharing or reusing their content, regardless of whether the material is copyrightable.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
Original content shared on WeChat, whether text or photography, is copyrighted by the creator. In addition, because content on WeChat is often shared in private messages, the content creator may have an expectation of privacy, such that you should obtain explicit written permission to share any content outside of WeChat, even if you correctly quote and cite the creator.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Both

Specific guidance
A tweet may be considered copyrighted if it is original to its author and has a modicum of originality. For example, a retweet is not copyrighted by the secondary tweeter, and a tweet that simply states a fact such as “Abraham Lincoln was an American president” is not copyrightable. Even if you doubt a tweet is copyrightable, you should still obtain permission from the author.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Neither

Specific guidance
Tweets from government officials, made an an official capacity, such as from their “official government account,” are considered to be in the public domain and therefore not copyrightable. If a government official tweets from a personal account, it may be copyrightable, in which case you would need to seek permission to reuse.

Further information

Copyright or permission?
Copyright

Specific guidance
YouTube videos are copyrighted by their creators. To reuse all or part of a video, you must obtain permission from the creator.

Further information

Frequently asked questions

Click the expand + icon on the questions below to open the information.

You must obtain all necessary permission in writing to include any third party content in your article. Without this written permission, we will not be able to include the third party content which may delay or halt publication of your article.

Please make sure that the individual granting permission is the actual rightsholder of the copyright and is authorized to grant you that permission; for example, a journal editor may say permission is granted, but does not have the authority to act on behalf of the rightsholder.

We will also ask you to warrant that you have obtained all of these permissions at both the point of submission and in the author publishing agreement that you enter into with us once your article has been accepted. If you do not have all of the necessary permissions for the article content, including the third party, this would constitute a breach of the warranty made by you in the author publishing agreement.

When you submit your article our submission system will ask if permission has been obtained for any third party content. You need to answer this question before you can complete your submission. A false answer to this question would constitute a breach of contract by you.

When you submit your article, you will see one of the following screens, depending on which submission system the journal uses.

Submission Portal

ScholarOne

Editorial Manager

Want to find out more about the author publishing agreement? Click here.

  • When clearing permission to use any third party content, you must obtain permission for any figures that are reproduced or adapted by you which are based on the third party content. See the next question for more information on figure reproduction, adaptation, and redrawing.

  • If the rightsholder for the third party content does not respond to your request, or refuses to grant you permission for reuse of the third party content, then you must not include the third party content in your article.

    NB: We flag any missing attributions, and these will be raised with you as an author query during the proof corrections stage; we will not publish articles where third party content reuse queries are still outstanding.

All original works will have copyright status, and so copyright protection applies automatically to any original works that have been created/written. This can include content, images, photos, advertisements, songs, music, websites, databases. Copyright automatically comes into effect when you start sharing your ideas. Copyright does not need to be registered and notice of copyright does not need to be given for the work to have the copyright protection. As such, it is best to assume that all content is protected by copyright, unless you have a good reason to believe otherwise.

Published content should include a visible statement to describe the copyright status. For example, a journal article will include a clearly visible copyright line, usually on the first page of the PDF and denoted by ©, which will also show who the rightsholder is.

You may also consider using PLSclear or Copyright Clearance Center Marketplace, which allow you to enter a manuscript title into their search box and begin a permissions request to the correct rightsholder.

Please note that not all publishers are signed up with these services, so you may be directed to the publisher.

You should clarify reuse conditions with the rightsholder of the work even if the content was created by you. For example, if you want to reference a table that was previously published in another article, you may need to check with the publisher of that article about the terms for reusing the table.

You can find the relevant information on these webpages:

You must include the information that is outlined below.

What information do I need to provide when seeking permission for reuse?

First, check if the rightsholder whose content you wish to reuse is a signatory of the STM Permissions guidelines.

When you are asking a rightsholder for permission to reproduce, copy or adapt any kind of third party content, please provide them with the following information.

Information about your article

  • Name of the journal in which your article will be published

  • Title of your article

  • Authors of your article

Information about the content your wish to reproduce

  • The title of the article, chapter, or page number(s)

  • The authors of the original work

  • Details of where the original content appears, i.e. the book title/journal title, the DOI or full citation

  • Information regarding the specific content you wish to reuse within your article (e.g. the exact/figure/table/text), including the page number it appears on

  • Details of whether the content will be an exact reproduction or if it will be adapted/modified in any way

  • Details of the license you are likely to publish your article under, i.e. will you be making your article open access and publish under a Creative commons license, such as the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

When submitting your request to the third party content rightsholder, please ask for the following license terms

  • The non-exclusive right to reproduce the third party content within your article in [journal name], which will be available for download via the TFO platform

  • Print and electronic rights for the full term of the copyright and any extensions of copyright to facilitate reproduction of the content in the journal’s print and online editions – we cannot publish third party content using a time-limited license

  • Worldwide English-language distribution rights

  • If you are requesting an image, please ask for one that has a minimum of 300 dpi resolution – for more information, please refer to our guidance on How to submit your electronic artwork

The rightsholder can grant you permission either to include their content under the same terms as your article’s new license; or to include their content with further reuse prohibited and a clear caption below the material. All third party content must be fully referenced (see below).

What information do I need to provide in the captions/figure legends?

Taylor & Francis expects any third party content or sources to be fully referenced.

In addition to a detailed description of what the figure shows, full attribution must be given, including a statement to confirm where permission to use that third party content was obtained from.

Example format: [Description of figure]; From [or Adapted from] “Title of Article,” by A. N. Author and C. O. Author, year, Title of Journal, Volume, p. xx. Copyright [year] by Name of Rightsholder. Reprinted [or Adapted] with permission.

You must also make sure that the captions for any third party content correctly reflect the specific conditions under which permission has been granted. The rightsholder may provide you with a specific acknowledgement or permission attribution which will need to be added alongside the reproduced work.

For example: © 1991. Damien Hirst. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission.

The caption should also make clear the license conditions, under which permission has been provided.

  • If you have permission to include the material under the same terms as the license you are signing for your forthcoming article, please make sure that the caption of the material notes the rightsholder.
    e.g., © 2020. Joe Bloggs. Reproduced with permission. 

  • If you have permission to include the material within the article only (i.e. not under the same license terms as your work) please ensure that your caption notes the rightsholder and is clear on its rights status.
    e.g., © 2020. Joe Bloggs. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission.

Please note that the editorial team or production department may request to see copies of all permissions documentation and approval from third parties for your article at any point in the publication process. Please make sure documentation is stored securely.

If you are not sure if permission is needed for any third party content you want to include in your article, please contact us and we can help you.

You can also find information on the individual journal’s Instructions for Authors page, or you can contact the journal Editor for specific submission-related queries.

  • You will need to allow several weeks for permission requests, so it is advisable to begin this process as early as possible.

  • Permissions requests for Taylor & Francis material currently have a processing time of up to six weeks. But some requests may take longer, depending on the complexity of the request and any difficulties encountered when tracing records. More information is available here.

  • The quickest way to obtain permission to reuse content is by using the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink® for journal content and PLSclear for book content, which enables you to obtain instant price quotes, place orders, and track your permissions requests. Access to RightsLink is available from the Reprints and Permissions tab on the article homepage on Taylor & Francis Online.

  • Note that permission to reuse any content from a Society publication may require approval from the Society, and so obtaining permission may take a little longer.

Type Explanation
Reproduction When a figure, section or piece of a table is published in the same form as its original publication. To reproduce a figure, section or table, permission must be obtained; you should check who owns the rights for the original content and clear permission.
Adaptation When a figure has been modified by adding or taking away information. This also requires that permission is obtained. However, if an author has taken some data or information from a table in an original work and then used that data in conjunction with their own in a new table this may be allowed under Fair Use – but each determination must be made by T&F, considering the context of the adaption. Where T&F does allow use of an adaption without permission of the original rightsholder, please ensure the original work is properly cited. Furthermore, it is an expected academic courtesy that the original rightsholder is notified of your adaptation.
Redrawing Redrawn figures of copyrighted illustrative material fall within the scope of “derivative copyright”. Authors should check who owns the rights for the original figure, and request permission to reuse the material. Authors may need to submit their own redrawn figure so that the rightsholder can confirm its accuracy.

Reproduction of third party content may be allowed without permission in limited circumstances where short extracts of text or other types of material are being used for the purpose of criticism and review. This is known as “fair use” or “fair dealing”.

If you are not obtaining permission from the rightsholder for this reason, please inform the editorial team in the cover letter, or make a query to the Editor prior to submission. You will need to additionally explain when answering the submission questions for the journal.

Please note that a quotation from a song lyric or a poem does not fall under the fair use exemption in any circumstances. Use of song lyrics or poem excerpts will always require written permission from the rightsholder.

Please refer to the Publishers Association permission guidelines for further information on fair dealing and copyright exceptions.

Any third party content used under the fair dealing legislation still requires an accompanying acknowledgement, which must include the title(s) of the work(s), author name(s) and relevant dates.

  • Taylor & Francis is a signatory of the STM Permissions guidelines, which allows for the free and reciprocal reuse of signatory publisher material within new, original academic publications.

  • Here are the full list of signatory publishers. Please note that some publications are excluded from the guidelines – this will be made clear in the notes column.

  • If a publisher has indicated ‘notification not required (“automatic” process)’, as long as the reuse is within the guidelines and fully referenced, you do not need to submit a permissions request.

  • If they require notification, you will either need to contact their permissions team or obtain permission to reuse via the Rightslink platform or PLS Clear. You should not be charged for a reuse within the STM Permissions guidelines. However, if your usage exceeds the guidelines, you may be expected to pay a fee.

  • These are the details of the guidelines and what can be reused.

  • Full referencing to the original work will always be required.

If you are reusing or adapting content which includes various types of multimedia content (e.g., a video that contains music), you must consider the potential rights involved and reuse conditions for each type of multimedia content.

Also, be aware that the rightsholder of the content could include multiple parties (e.g. the creator and/or the rightsholder of the video and the creator and/or the rightsholder of the music). Permission for reuse must be obtained in writing from each rightsholder.

Before commencing your study, when using a scale or survey, check the terms and conditions, which will indicate what you can do with that material.

If you are unsure if a scale or questionnaire is protected, please contact the Rightsholder in the first instance.

You should request formal written permission from the rightsholder, even when you are reproducing an extract. The rightsholder may apply a reproduction or use fee and will advise on the correct attribution statement and form of license. 

It is essential that proper acknowledgment and attribution is given to the patent owner. Examples of how to reference patents can be found in the Taylor & Francis Standard Reference Guide (excerpt below).

Reference format: Inventor, A. A., inventor, B. B., & Inventor, C. C. (yyyy). Title of the patent: Subtitle (Patent No. #,###,###). Patent Office Name. https://URL

Reference example: Pfeifer, A., Muhs, A., Pihlgren, M., Adolfsson, O., & Van Leuven, F. (2017). Humanized tau antibody (U.S. Patent No. 9,657,091). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=9,657,091

Citation examples: Pfeifer et al. (2017) [narrative]; (Pfeifer et al., 2017) [parenthetical]

Further guidance on describing and illustrating patents is available at:

If the content you wish to reuse was published in an open access article, first identify the type of copyright license assigned to the article. Generally, the license will be a variety of a Creative Commons open access license. Once you’ve identified the license type (e.g., CC-BY-NC), you can read more about the associated permissions on:

This guidance on permissions applies to both OA and subscription articles. Whether you are publishing your article on an open access basis or not, you need to seek permission to reuse any third party content.

When clearing permission, for an OA publication you will need to make it clear that your article is being published as an open access article, and state what license it will be published under, so that the rightsholder can state how their material should be referenced.

For example, if your article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, but the Rightsholder does not want their figure to be licensed under the same license conditions, you would need to indicate this clearly by placing a caption below the figure “© 1990 Dr Smith. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission”.

When your article has been accepted, you do not need to send evidence that permission was obtained to Production, but you will need to confirm that permission was obtained by ticking the relevant box: Does this article contain content from third parties for which you are responsible for obtaining permission to reuse?



By ticking ‘Yes’, the corresponding author will be asked to give further details. These details can either be included within the manuscript source file(s), or added in our system – see how in the screenshot below.



The acknowledgement will then be included in the author publishing agreement as the following legally binding statement (also shown the screenshot below: “The author(s) have noted that third party content is used in this article, and that written permission for its use has been obtained by the author(s).”