I am writing a review paper. In my paper, can I use figures from "open access" journals/articles etc provided I cite them properly? (i.e. without have to go for requesting permission for using). Also, is there any way to obtain permission to use already published figures without incurring cost?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Many journals allow reuse of published original material, such as figures, tables, and short text excerpts, on condition that appropriate credit is given to the copyright holder and the material is used for non-commercial purposes. These uses include articles in peer-review journals, teaching materials, and academic dissertations or theses. Check the journal website to see if they allow the use of those figures. Also, publishers and associations such as Wiley and The Scientific Technical and Medical Association have specific usage limits. For more information, visit https://authorservices.wiley.com/asset/photos/licensing-and-open-access-photos/Journal-Permissions-8-April-2016.pdf and https://www.stm-assoc.org/intellectual-property/permissions/permissions-guidelines/. On the other hand, if you use only the data in a new figure or table, you don't have to ask for permission, since data is not subject to copyright; in this case, you will only need to cite the source of the data.
Pranjal - a very good response from Angel. Most establsihed journals will allow you to directly publish figures in articles with acknowledgement. That said, it tends not to occur so much with journal articles - as opposed to often occurs within books and book chapters. In edited texts that I have edited - I tend to steer away from publishers that charge a fee for their figures. I think this encourages them to rethink their strategy in that, if people do not use their figures due to the cost, they are missing out on having their work cited and 'promoted'.
Yes. Figures and information from Open access journals and books can be used freely. However, you need to generate and attach the copyright license along the manuscript while submitting to a journal. The copyright can be obtained using Rightslink (Universal copyright clearance centre) which will show no charges for copyright license for open access materials.
I think that it is much better to create your own graphic and cite the ideas represented. Open Access journals are, nevertheless, copyrighted. Open Access means that you can SEE the article without charge, but does not mean you can use the contents as your own.
By default all on-line materials are copyrighted, even if they are free to access. So reproducing anything usually requires a written permission, unless something has been explicitly mentioned otherwise (e.g. 'copyleft').
Thanks @ranjan @Michael @Issac @dean & @angel. What according to you would be the most efficient and cost effective (rather free) way to use figures from other published sources while writing a review paper? How do you generally proceed while writing a review paper? (I have seen in some internet article that no permission is required in reviewing!! But I am not sure about it's authenticity & it confuses me)
Thanks in advance.
Permission is needed because of copyright. It is needed whether the Figure was from Open Access journal, or Other traditional journals or Any types of publications. The issue is about copyright. The only difference, the copyright in conventional journals is owned by the publisher, while in Open Access journals the copyrights are owned by the authors of the work.
Dear in the case of a review article, the important thing is to show the trends and approaches. The graph allows you to visually show these trends, but you can always describe them in a quote.
Text can be included if it is written in quotes and the source is cited. However for figures this cannot be done, either the figure needs to be drawn fresh by the author or written permission needs to be sought.
It's better not to copy the diagram as it is, rather creates your own and cite the source for the ideas represented. Sometimes the diagram may vary a little bit with the methodology you used, results you obtained or with time. So make sure that the OA research paper you followed is valuable till now.
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