Open access licenses
We aim to provide the best choice of user license options which define how readers can reuse open access articles published on our platforms.
SciEngine's policy
Offer a choice between a commercial and a noncommercial Creative Commons license for gold open access articles in our proprietary titles. The choice is dependent on the journal in which the author chooses to publish. Please refer to the journal's homepage for specific details.
Use the SciEngine user license for our open archive content
We support green open access and accepted manuscripts can be self -archived following our sharing guidelines and are required to attach a CC-BY-NC-ND license.
Choosing a license
Once selected, Creative Commons user licenses are non-revocable. See the Creative Commons website for more details about what to consider before choosing a user license. Click here for a full list of user licenses used by SciEngine.
Read, print and download
Redistribute or republish the article (e.g. display in a repository)
Download for text and data mining purposes
CC BY 4.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Yes Yes Yes
For private use only and not for distribution Yes Yes No
SciEngine user license Yes No Yes Yes No No
Please note: Under the CC BY-NC-ND license and for the SciEngine user license permitted 3rd party reuse is only applicable for non-commercial purposes. For further details on the rights granted to SciEngine see our copyright information or to obtain permission for commercial use see our permission information. Also note further permission may be required from the rights owner for any content within an article that is identified as belonging to a third party.
In order for SciEngine to publish and disseminate research articles, we need certain publishing rights from authors, which are determined by a publishing agreement between the author and SciEngine.
For articles published open access, the authors license exclusive publishing rights to SciEngine.
For articles published under the subscription model, the authors transfer copyright to SciEngine.
Regardless of whether they choose to publish open access or subscription with SciEngine, authors have many of the same rights under our publishing agreement, which support their need to share, disseminate and maximize the impact of their research.
For open access articles, authors will also have additional rights, depending on the Creative Commons end user license that they select. This Creative Commons license sets out the rights that readers (as well as the authors) have to re-use and share the article: please see here for more information on how articles can be re-used and shared under these licenses.
This page aims to summarise authors' rights when publishing with SciEngine; these are explained in more detail in the publishing agreement between the author and SciEngine.
Irrespective of how an article is published, SciEngine is committed to protect and defend authors' works and their reputation. We take allegations of infringement, plagiarism, ethical disputes, and fraud very seriously.
The below table explains the rights that authors have when they publish with SciEngine, for authors who choose to publish either open access or subscription. These apply to the corresponding author and all co-authors.
Author rights in SciEngine's proprietary journals
Published open access
Published subscription
Retain patent and trademark rights √ √
Retain the rights to use their research data freely without any restriction √ √
Receive proper attribution and credit for their published work √ √
Re-use their own material in new works without permission or payment (with full acknowledgement of the original article):
1. Extend an article to book length
2. Include an article in a subsequent compilation of their own work
3. Re-use portions, excerpts, and their own figures or tables in other works. √ √
Use and share their works for scholarly purposes (with full acknowledgement of the original article):
1. In their own classroom teaching. Electronic and physical distribution of copies is permitted
2. If an author is speaking at a conference, they can present the article and distribute copies to the attendees
3. Distribute the article, including by email, to their students and to research colleagues who they know for their personal use
4. Share and publicize the article via Share Links, which offers 50 days' free access for anyone, without signup or registration
5. Include in a thesis or dissertation (provided this is not published commercially)
6. Share copies of their article privately as part of an invitation-only work group on commercial sites with which the publisher has a hosting agreement √ √
Publicly share the preprint on any website or repository at any time.
Publicly share the accepted manuscript on non-commercial sites √ √
using a CC BY-NC-ND license and usually only after an embargo period
Publicly share the final published article √
in line with the author's choice of end user license ×
Retain copyright √ ×
Institution rights
Regardless of how the author chooses to publish with SciEngine, their institution has the right to use articles for classroom teaching and internal training. Articles can be used for these purposes throughout the author's institution, not just by the author:
Institution rights in SciEngine's proprietary journals (providing full acknowledgement of the original article is given)
Copies can be distributed electronically as well as in physical form for classroom teaching and internal training purposes √
Material can be included in coursework and courseware programs for use within the institution (but not in Massive Open Online Courses) √
Articles can be included in applications for grant funding √
Theses and dissertations which contain embedded final published articles as part of the formal submission can be posted publicly by the awarding institution with DOI links back to the formal publication on SciEngine √
Download a sample publishing agreement for articles published open access with a commercial user license (CC-BY), a non-commercial user license (CC-BY-NC-ND), a ShareAlike user license(CC-BY-NC-SA) and a SciEngine user license (SciEngine-CC-BY-NC).
As a general rule, permission should be sought from the rights holder to reproduce any substantial part of a copyrighted work. This includes any text, illustrations, charts, tables, photographs, or other material from previously published sources. Obtaining permission to re-use content published by SciEngine is simple. Follow the guide below for a quick and easy route to permission.
For further guidelines about obtaining permission, please review our Frequently Asked Questions below:
When is permission required?
As a general rule, written permission must be obtained from the rightsholder in order to re-use any copyrighted material. Typically the rightsholder of published material is the publisher unless it is explicitly indicated otherwise. Copyrighted material can include figures, illustrations, charts, tables, photographs, and text excerpts. Re-use of any borrowed material must be properly acknowledged, even if it is determined that written permission is not necessary.
SciEngine publishes not only subscription content but also open access content available under a user license that determines how readers can re-use the content. We recommend readers check the license details found under the DOI and funding body information.
When is permission not required?
Written permission may not need to be obtained in certain circumstances, such as the following:
Public domain works are not protected by copyright and may be reproduced without permission, subject to proper acknowledgement. This includes works for which copyright has expired, works that are not copyrightable by law, and works expressly released into the public domain by their creators. (Permission would however be required to re-use the final formatted, edited, published version of a public domain journal article, for example, as this version is owned by the publisher.)
Open access content published under a CC-BY user license, as well as open access content published under other types of user licenses depending on the nature of your proposed re-use (for example, commercial vs. nonprofit use), may not require written permission, subject to proper acknowledgement. Permissions vary depending on the license type, and we recommend that readers check the license details carefully before re-using the material.
Creating an original figure or table from data or factual information that was not previously in figure or table format typically does not require permission, subject to proper acknowledgement of the source(s) of the data.
From whom do I need permission?
Permission must be obtained from the rightsholder of the material. In most cases this will mean contacting the publisher of the material. The publisher typically has the exclusive right to grant the permission whether or not copyright is owned by the publisher. If the rightsholder requires that the credit line be in a specific format, this must be followed exactly, e.g.:
Suitable acknowledgement to the source must be made, either as a footnote or in a reference list at the end of your publication, as follows:
"Reprinted from Publication title, Vol /edition number, Author(s), Title of article / title of chapter, Pages No., Copyright (Year), with permission from SciEngine [OR APPLICABLE SOCIETY COPYRIGHT OWNER]."
How do I obtain permission to use photographs or illustrations?
Photographs or illustrations of fine art objects (sculptures, paintings, etc.) are frequently subject to copyright, and permission may need to be obtained from the holder of the reproduction rights in the photograph (usually the photographer, the publisher, or the museum that owns the object). Permission may need to be obtained from both the rightsholder of the art object itself (if still protected by copyright) as well as the photographer of the art object.
Do I need to obtain permission to use material posted on a website?
Probably. Most material on the Internet is protected by copyright whether or not a copyright notice is displayed. Some material posted on websites may not be original to the website itself and permission will therefore need to be requested from the rightsholder of the original source, once the rightsholder can be identified. If the material is original to the website, permission should be obtained directly from the website which will own copyright to the content on their site.
How do I obtain permission from another publisher?
Permission to reproduce material from another publisher in an SciEngine product can typically be obtained via RightsLink's automated permission-granting service, which can be located on the individual journal article or book chapter page on the publisher's website. Where RightsLink or other Copyright Clearance Center services are not available, we provide a permission request form for SciEngine authors to use.