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 Elsevier 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:
Permission is required for any material that is not original. As a rule, written permission must be obtained from the rightsholder 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.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
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 (for example, any US work published prior to 1923), works that are not copyrightable by law (for example, works prepared by US government employees as part of their official duties), 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.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
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 Elsevier [OR APPLICABLE SOCIETY COPYRIGHT OWNER]."
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
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.
The Artists Rights Society in the US and its sister societies outside the US, including DACS in the UK and VG Bild-Kunst in Germany, represent the intellectual property rights of many well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Andy Warhol. For more information, please visit the website or the website of their umbrella organization, CISAC
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Probably. Most material on the Internet is protected by copyright whether a copyright notice is displayed or not. 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, unless this in public domain.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
When requesting permission to re-use material in your forthcoming Elsevier journal article or book chapter, you may be able to use our permission request form which asks that the rightsholder grant to Elsevier the following rights: this and all subsequent editions, revisions, versions, derivative works, translations, ancillaries, adaptations, supplementary materials, and custom editions; all languages; all formats and media now known or hereafter developed; worldwide distribution in perpetuity.
We often cannot include material where these rights have been restricted. In these cases you will need to obtain alternate material. Please use original, unpublished figures, tables, and other content, or at minimum content that is original to Elsevier and its imprints, whenever possible
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Permission to reproduce material form another publisher in an Elsevier product can typically be obtained via RightsLink 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 opens in new tab/window
for Elsevier authors to use. Refer to this example for further instructions on how to complete the permission request form opens in new tab/window
For more information on how to apply permission to another publisher, please see the below guided publisher reference videos.
RightsLink is the Copyright Clearance Center's automated permission-granting service. It can often be the most convenient and efficient way to request permissions. Discover more information about using RightsLink
For any further clarification, you can submit your query via our online form
If a rightsholder does not respond after multiple attempts to contact them or if the RH details are unavailable, it would be best to remove their material and replace it with alternate material to avoid further risk or delay in publications. However, you should keep records of all correspondence as proof of your attempts to obtain permission. It can never be assumed that a non-response authorizes you to use the material.
For any further clarification, you can submit your query via our online form
An RRO is a national organization licensed to handle certain types of permissions on behalf of publishers or other rights owners. RROs can provide you with permission in the form of a license to make copies of material in several formats such as printing, photocopying, scanning, digital copying, and electronic storage. Learn more about The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO)
If you want to make multiple photocopies of articles or chapters please contact the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA)
opens in new tab/window for a license subscription. RightsLink can also provide a license on an individual basis.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
. The Guidelines encourage the granting of permission by one STM signatory publisher to another to re-use limited amounts of material from published works in subsequent publications. Permission will be granted by one signatory publisher to another free of charge to:
Use up to three figures (including tables) from a journal article or book chapter, but: not more than five figures from a whole book or journal issue/edition; not more than six figures from an annual journal volume; not more than three figures from works published by a single publisher for an article; not more than three figures from works published by a single publisher for a book chapter; and in total not more than thirty figures from a single publisher for republication in a book, including a multi-volume book. Single text extracts of less than 400 words from a journal article or book chapter, but: not more than a total of 800 words from a whole book or journal issue/edition.
Permission automatically includes re-use for electronic versions of the work as well as for subsequent editions and translations, except as outlined on the STM website. When granting permissions, STM publishers will not request a complimentary copy of the new work except in limited circumstances. View the complete list of STM signatory publishers
For any further clarifications, submit your query via our online form
It depends. STM signatory publishers fall under 2 categories: STM Opt-Out (Notification Not Required) and STM Not Opt-Out (Notification Required). A formal permission is not required for the publishers who fall under STM Opt-Out category and a formal permission is required for the publishers who fall under STM Not Opt-Out category.
However, we need to track carefully how much total material we are re‐using from the borrowed‐from STM publisher (inclusive of both STM Opt-Out and Not Opt-Out publishers) to ensure that we do not exceed the STM limits—most notably, “no more than three figures from works published by a single publisher for a book chapter” and “in total not more than thirty figures from a single publisher for republication in a book.”
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Academic researchers at subscribing institutions can text mine subscribed content on ScienceDirect for non-commercial purposes, via the ScienceDirect APIs. For more information, please see our text and data mining policy .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Yes. Authors can include their articles in full or in part in a thesis or dissertation for non-commercial purposes.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Elsevier does not view the following uses of a work as prior publication: publication in the form of an abstract; publication as an academic thesis; publication as an electronic preprint. Please note that Cell Press, The Lancet and some society-owned titles have different policies on prior publication. For further information go to: Policies and Ethics for Journal Authors (Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication) .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
If the amount of material you are using falls with the limits set out in the STM permissions guidelines
opens in new tab/window permission is automatically granted and you are not required to request permission in writing. Please ensure you acknowledge the original source of the Elsevier material.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Permission to reuse material from Elsevier journals can be obtained directly via RightsLink opens in new tab/window
on a per-article basis.
If the article is available in ScienceDirect, RightsLink links are available on each article page by clicking on the title of the relevant article and following the “Get rights and content” link
If the article is not available on ScienceDirect, you can submit your request via our online form .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
If the amount of material you are using falls within the limits set out in the STM permissions guidelines, permission is automatically granted, and you are not required to request permission in writing. Please ensure you acknowledge the original source of the Elsevier material.
If the material is available on ScienceDirect, permission to reuse Elsevier book content can be obtained directly via RightsLink per-chapter basis as outlines here. RightsLink links are available on each article page by clicking on the title of the relevant article.
If the amount of material you will be reusing falls within the limits set out in the STM permissions guidelines
opens in new tab/window , permission is automatically granted. Please ensure you acknowledge the original source of the Elsevier material.
If the request does NOT fall within limits set out in the STM permissions guidelines, please submit the permission request form reserved for requesting permission to use Elsevier material that is not available on Science Direct.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
As an Elsevier journal author, you have the right to Include the article in a thesis or dissertation (provided that this is not to be published commercially) whether in full or in part, subject to proper acknowledgment; see the Copyright page for more information. No written permission from Elsevier is necessary.
This right extends to the posting of your thesis to your university’s repository provided that if you include the published journal article, it is embedded in your thesis and not separately downloadable.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Figures and illustrations taken from Elsevier publications, may be altered/adapted minimally to serve your work. Any other abbreviations, additions, deletions and/or any other alterations shall be made only with prior written authorization of Elsevier. ( Please visit the Permissions Support Center
opens in new tab/window ). No modifications can be made to any Lancet figures/tables which must be reproduced in full. For figures taken from publications other than Elsevier's, please refer the publisher terms and agreements on modification of the images.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
No modifications should be made to Lancet material which must be reproduced in its original form as published in the Lancet journal.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
NIH-funded authors and NIH employees are required to deposit to PubMed Central (PMC), or have submitted on their behalf, their Accepted Manuscript, to appear on PMC no later than 12 months after final publication.
As a service to our authors, where the author has identified themselves as being NIH funded or an NIH employee, Elsevier will deposit the accepted manuscript to PMC on behalf of the author, to be made publicly available after 12 months.
To confirm that deposit of your manuscript to PMC is in process, please contact Elsevier Researcher Support
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Our preferred acknowledgement wording will be included in your permissions license:
Example: “This article/chapter was published in Publication title, Vol number, Author(s), Title of article, Page Nos, Copyright Elsevier (or appropriate Society name) (Year).”
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Please create an individual account to request permissions. If you are facing issues with creation of account, please write to Copyrights Clearance Center [email protected]
Please find further information about RightsLink
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Elsevier book authors and contributors have the right to post a summary of their contribution on their personal or institutional website.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
opens in new tab/window are handled by our Licensing group.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Under our sharing policy, Elsevier journal authors may post the preprint or accepted manuscript version of their article, but not the final published journal article, to their institutional repository. The article won’t be made public until after the embargo period.
You may include a link to the article as it appears on Elsevier’s ScienceDirect website via the DOI.
For more information on the various ways in which Elsevier journal authors may share their research, please visit our Sharing policy page .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Under our sharing policy , Elsevier journal authors retain the right to post the preprint of their article anywhere at any time.
Authors can post the accepted manuscript version of their article to their personal website immediately, to their institutional repository and other non-commercial hosting platforms subject to the journal-specific embargo date. Please find a complete list of Elsevier journals and their embargo dates opens in new tab/window
Authors retain the right to distribute copies (including through e-mail) to known research colleagues for their personal use (but not for Commercial Use).
Authors of newly-published articles will also receive a Share Link upon publication of their articles which provides free full-text access for 50 days and can be shared via email and social networks. Please find more information about Share Link .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Yes, you can post your preprint, which is your onw write up of your results and analysis, anywhere at any time.
If you have poster you preprint on ArXiv, which is a non-commercial preprint server, you can also immediately update this version with your accepted manuscript. In all cases, posted manuscripts should link back to the final published article on ScienceDirect and should have a non-commercial, non-derivative user license attached (CC BY-NC-ND).
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
You are always able to share the preprint version, abstract or a link to your article. For authors who have published their article open access under commercial license (CC BY) you can also post your final article. We recognize the importance of sharing research and have a wider range of ways you can share your article throughout the research publishing process, including posting to your institutional repository. You can find our sharing guidelines here .
We suggest researchers check the list of organizations who endorser the STM "Voluntary principles for article sharing on scholarly collaboration networks" to check what publishers, commercial platforms and other organizations are working to facilitate sharing.
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form
Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where we wish to include case details or other personal information or images of patients or any other individuals in an Elsevier publication. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to Elsevier upon request and only upon request. Please find the patient consent form opens in new tab/window
Particular care should be taken where children are concerned (in particular where a child has special needs or learning disabilities), where an individual's head or face appears, or where reference is made to an individual's name or other personal details. For more information please review Elsevier's policy on the use of images or personal information of patients or other individuals .
For any further clarifications, you can submit your query via our online form