I usually find a questinnaire in a published research paper and send the author seeking his/her permission to use them in my study. Most of the times I don't get any response. So, shall I use the questionnaire and acknowledge it in my research paper?
Dear Colleague
From an ethical perspective, you must obtain a permission to use a previously developed questionnaire. But i want you to bear in mind these precautions to protect yourself from later questioning:
- You just ask the researcher's permission on his university email because that is the way of verifying his identiy.
- If they have Yahoo or Gmail you should ask them to send you a written approval because Yahoo or Gmail do not verify the identity of researchers. You write a permission letter and send to the corresponding author to sign and send back to you.
- You must acknowledge in writing your manuscrtipt the source of the questionnaire and give them proper citation.
- If you performed any major changes, you have to retest validity and reliability of the questionnaire.
Kind Regards
Hi,
If you want to be on the safe side, it is recommended that you ask permission.
Dear Colleague
From an ethical perspective, you must obtain a permission to use a previously developed questionnaire. But i want you to bear in mind these precautions to protect yourself from later questioning:
- You just ask the researcher's permission on his university email because that is the way of verifying his identiy.
- If they have Yahoo or Gmail you should ask them to send you a written approval because Yahoo or Gmail do not verify the identity of researchers. You write a permission letter and send to the corresponding author to sign and send back to you.
- You must acknowledge in writing your manuscrtipt the source of the questionnaire and give them proper citation.
- If you performed any major changes, you have to retest validity and reliability of the questionnaire.
Kind Regards
I think it depends. In many cases the measureing scales/questionnaires are openly available for non-commercial and research purpose so in that case, you don't need to email and seek permission as it will be merely wastage of time and bothering the authors unncessarily. However, you must cite the source(s) in your research work. Conversely, if the authors have not explicitly mentioned that, then you have to ask their written permission, particularly if you want to amend the scales, it is always avisable to seek prior permission. It is better to on the safe side than being sorry later.
it is important for u to take permission any how before using it.
I agree with Arif Ulhaq. Several questionnaires and instruments are openly available for research especially on widely researched theories and concepts. Such instruments are often adopted by researchers with citations of their sources. In such cases, the author may not bother to respond to any requests for permission to use. However, some have copyright restrictions on them and require that you obtain permission before using them. All the same, whenever possible, it advisable to obtain permission to be on safe side. You do not lose anything by doing so
If u are going to use as it is then it is important to take permission & if u can prepare a new tool by taking the help of existing then cite them in your work.
to meet the criteria of research ethics it is necessary to seek the permission.
It is complicated.
Here are some examples of retraction concerning similar issues.
http://www.ijcmph.com/index.php/ijcmph/article/view/675/1042
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/jpm.2015.0230.retract
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/jpm.2015.0230.retract
The easy solution are as follow
1. Asking permission for a copyrighted material and following their "tems and conditions"
2. Finding another instrument that is not copyrighted and acknowledging the source (and still you mght need to get permission)
Source
https://irb.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/2018-11-06%20v2%20Notice%20to%20Investigators%20re%20MMAS.pdf
Cases in COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
https://publicationethics.org/case/unauthorised-use-questionnaires (2003)
https://publicationethics.org/case/licence-published-scale (2018)
https://publicationethics.org/case/license-using-published-scale (2018)
Yes. We absolutely need to get permission from the owner of the questionarie before using it. I recommend every body to do this.
How about adapting an existing instrument (paid version) and giving credit to the original developer?
if the author has died so do we need to take permission to use that scale from any organization.
yes u should take permission. but some questionnaire are available in public, no need of permission example DASS-21
You need to ask for permission to use it. I am assuming it is for a research study that you intend to publish. If requested by the author, you might also need to send your research paper/manuscript to them in order to make them aware of your publication.
Yes, you need to ask permission. It is a published work and is covered by Copyright Laws of the country in which it was published. Additionally, if you want to change or update a question, ask permission to do so. I also inform the author if I do not use the entire set of questions. If you eliminate a question it may affect the reliability of the instrument .
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