1. What if I want to re–use material from another source in my article?
1.1 What are ‘STM Permissions Guidelines’ and how can I use them?
1.2 What is ‘fair dealing’, and what does it cover?
1.3 What is 'fair use', and what does it cover?
1.4 Is there any specific wording I should use in my letter requesting permission?
1.5 Is there an audio-visual release form I may use?
1.6 May I post my article online or otherwise distribute it without permission from SAGE?
1.7 How can I contact the SAGE Permissions department?
2. How can I re-use my article?
3. Other re-use of your article
For more information on open access options at SAGE please visit the open access pages.
1. What if I want to re–use material from another source in my article?
SAGE is sympathetic to the needs of scholars to include other copyright material in their work and SAGE is happy to provide guidance on this. Responsibility for obtaining permission to use any other copyright material rests with you as the author of the Contribution.
If your Contribution includes material which is not your copyright, you are responsible for submitting with your manuscript the written permission from those who control copyright in that material to include it and reproduce it within your Contribution. In most cases this will be the publisher of the work. You are responsible for the payment of any permission fees.
If your Contribution does not qualify for a 'fair dealing' (UK) or 'fair use' (USA) exception (please see below) you will need to clear permission for all third party material you intend to include: direct text extracts, tables, or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted material must be accompanied by written permission for their use from the copyright owner and original author along with complete information as to source. You may be able to benefit from free re-use of a limited amount of material from certain publishers under the ‘STM Permissions Guidelines’ (see below).
Where possible, photographs of identifiable persons should be accompanied by signed releases from these people showing informed consent. This is particularly important for children and essential if photographs feature situations where privacy would be expected.
Articles appear in both the print and online versions of the journal and may be translated or archived, and the wording of the permission licence must specify permission in all formats and media for the full legal term of copyright. Failure to get electronic permission rights - or needed releases - will result in the images not being included at all in your article.
If you are unsure whether you need to clear permission, please contact your Production Editor.
There are some occasions where permission is not required for re–use of material from another source. The most important of these is ‘fair dealing’ (UK) or ‘fair use’ (USA).
If you wish to re-use original material published by SAGE in the work you are preparing for publication in a SAGE journal, this re-use may be covered by the STM Permissions Guidelines (see below) but in some cases may require permission from SAGE. In such instances, please visit Journals Permissions.
1.1 What are the ‘STM Permissions Guidelines’ and how can I use them?
SAGE is a signatory of the STM permissions guidelines. Despite the name, the STM Permissions Guidelines are not limited to the use of scientific, technical and medical content. Instead, all publications - unless specifically excluded - by the publishers who are signatories to the guidelines are eligible for use under the terms.
The guidelines allow signatory publishers (and their authors) to use small amounts of other signatory publishers’ materials without payment of a fee. In some cases – where the publisher has ‘opted out’ of receiving notice - there is no need to request permission. In other cases, an author wishing to use content from another publisher simply cites the guidelines when requesting the material from the other publisher. If requesting permission online, “STM Publisher” may be an option when identifying the journal in which your article will be published. Re-use under the STM Permissions Guidelines will not incur a fee.
View further information about STM Permissions Guidelines and the process for providing notification when required.
1.2 What is ‘fair dealing’, and what does it cover?
UK law provides that copyright will not be infringed by ‘fair dealing’ but it does not define what ‘fair dealing’ itself means. It has come to be interpreted as referring to the way material is used, as well as the intention of the person using it. However, use of third party material must qualify as fair dealing for a particular purpose. There are a number of these purposes specified in UK law but the most relevant one for us is 'Fair Dealing for Criticism or Review'.
What constitutes ‘fair dealing for Criticism or Review’?
First of all use of third party material must be ‘Fair’. That means: not systematic and not conflicting with the rights of the copyright holder or affecting their ability to benefit from the work:
- There is no set amount of material allowed or forbidden. But the use cannot be systematic or excessive. Do not rely on word counts.
- You must always make proper acknowledgment to the original copyright work.
Criticism or review:
- The third party material used must be discussed in the context of criticism or review. This is an essential component providing a justification for fair dealing.
- There is no legal definition of criticism or review but it’s likely that there would be a fairly liberal interpretation by the Courts.
- Mere illustration or ‘window dressing’ is ruled out. A good question to ask is whether your work would stand up if the material was deleted. If so, it is unlikely to be for criticism and review.
- This defence can only be used in United Kingdom law in conjunction with published works.
- Permission is always required if you wish to modify or make changes to the third party material because all authors have moral rights under European law.
If you are in any doubt as to whether or not you can use the material as ‘fair dealing’, you should clear permission, or leave the material out.
Please note that, this is SAGE’s working view of a relatively untested area of the law.
1.3 What is ‘fair use’, and what does it cover?
Fair use is codified as Section 107 of the US Copyright Act and provides an exception to the exclusive rights of the copyright holder under certain limited circumstances. Fair use involves a four factor analysis that includes considering (1) the purpose and nature of the use, (2) the nature of the original material, (3) the amount of the original material being used in relation to the original work as a whole, and (4) the effect the use will have on the market of the original work. Text, photographs, illustrations, and figures are all subject to fair use, but generally the more creative the original work (the nature of the original work), the weaker the basis for a fair use argument. Where the later use is transformative – that is, where the purpose of the use is different than the purpose of the original creation – the fair use argument will be stronger. Only the minimal portion of the original work that is sufficient for the use should be used (e.g., where a 200 word excerpt is adequate for the use, no more than 200 words should be reproduced, photographs should be reproduced in the minimum size that will achieve the purpose). Reproduction of an excerpt for the purpose of commentary, criticism, and discussion may be the basis for a fair use argument, subject to the overall determination under the four-factor analysis.
If you are in any doubt as to whether or not you can use the material as ‘fair use’, you should clear permission, or leave the material out.
1.4 Is there any specific wording I should use in my letter requesting permission?
In order to be able to publish your work in the print and online versions of your article we require permission to be granted for worldwide rights to reproduce in all media in all formats. You may use the template permission letter to request permission.
1.5 Is there an audio-visual release form I may use?
If an individual is identifiable in any audio- and/or visual material included in your Contribution, we require permission to be granted in order for SAGE to publish your Contribution in the journal. You may use the template release form to request permission.
1.6 May I post my article online or otherwise distribute it without permission from SAGE?
Yes, please visit our Guidelines for SAGE Authors to review how, as an author, you may share your Contribution.
1.7 How can I contact the Rights & Permissions department at SAGE?
Please visit Journals Permissions.
2. How can I re-use my article?
Please visit our Guidelines for SAGE Authors.
3. Other re-use of your article
You may have granted the Proprietor an exclusive licence to your work and retained copyright in your contribution, or you may have transferred copyright in the contribution to the Proprietor.
This helps SAGE and the Proprietor to ensure adequate protection against infringement of copyright protected material through breach of copyright or piracy anywhere in the world. It also ensures that requests by third parties to reprint or reproduce a contribution, or part of it in any format, are handled efficiently in accordance with our general policy which encourages dissemination of knowledge inside the framework of copyright.
Where practicable, SAGE advises third parties to inform you of their requests to re-use your material. This does not apply to blanket arrangements covering the journal as a whole. Please keep our mailing list up to date with your institutional or business address changes to help us to do this. Inadvertent failure to inform you will not constitute a material breach of the Contributor Agreement you signed as a condition of publication.
For more information, please visit Journals Permissions.