Copyright
Authors’ licensing and copyright options when publishing research articles with Elsevier
In order for Elsevier to publish and disseminate research articles, we need authors to grant us certain publishing rights, which are determined by the author’s choice of publishing model and, in the case of open access articles, the author’s choice of end user license.
Irrespective of the model under which an article is published, Elsevier is committed to protecting and defending authors’ works and their reputation. We take allegations of infringement, plagiarism, ethical disputes, and fraud very seriously.
Elsevier offers two publishing routes for authors to choose from, which have different implications for authors and others:
1. Pay-to-publish, also known as open access, which usually requires a fee from the author, or their institution or funder, to publish. When publishing open access with Elsevier, the author retains their copyright in the article and grants Elsevier a license to publish it. Authors have a choice of end user license:
If the author selects a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, end users are bound by this license. Each author can re-use their article themselves and also grant others (additional to Elsevier) a license to re-use their article for any purpose without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.
If the author selects a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license or a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license, end users are bound by the license. Each author retains the right to re-use the article for their own commercial and non-commercial purposes, including creating derivative works, without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.
2. Pay-to-read, where articles are free to publish, but usually require a subscription or payment to read. When publishing subscription the author typically transfers copyright to the publisher. However, each author retains the right to re-use the article for certain personal and scholarly purposes, including the creation of some derivative works, without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.
In all cases, any rights the author grants to Elsevier apply only to the published article. Elsevier does not require, nor ever request, rights to the underlying research itself. Authors (and institutions or employers) will continue to retain patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights relating to the research, as well as the right to use their research data freely and without restriction.
Comparing reuse rights
The below tables compare rights for authors and others under the publishing agreements for open access articles (OA) with CC BY, CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-ND licenses and subscription articles.
Authors’ rights in the article
| Empty table header | OA with CC BY | OA with CC BY-NC | OA with CC BY-NC-ND | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Receive proper attribution and credit for their published work | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Re-use their article in their own new works, without permission from Elsevier or payment to Elsevier, including by: • making copies of the article (or part of the article) to promote companies or products they own, whether or not such promotion is commercial; • including the article in a thesis or dissertation; • extending the article to a book, including the article in a subsequent compilation of their own work, or re-using portions, excerpts, and their own figures, tables and images from the article in their own new works (which in each case may be published with Elsevier or with a third party commercial or non-commercial publisher, at the author’s discretion) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes1 |
Use and share their article for scholarly purposes, including: • for classroom teaching; • at conferences; • for non-commercial Massive Open Online Courses; • create translations of the article and authorize others to do so for non-commercial scholarly collaborations and sharing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes2 |
Publicly share the preprint anywhere at any time | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Publicly share the final published article immediately on non-commercial sites e.g., institutional repositories, ensuring attribution | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Publicly share the final published article immediately on commercial scholarly collaboration networks, ensuring attribution, for the purpose only of hosting by those websites | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Publicly share the final published article immediately on commercial scholarly collaboration networks, ensuring attribution, for reuse by those websites | Yes | No | No | No |
Publicly share the accepted manuscript on non-commercial sites after an embargo period and attaching a CC BY-NC-ND end user license | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Right to license others to exercise the above rights for commercial purposes | Yes | No | No | No |
Retain copyright of their article | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Notes:
1The list is exhaustive in the case of articles published under the subscription model; additional uses/ sharing beyond those listed would require permissions to be requested from Elsevier.
2In the case of articles published under the subscription model: Sharing the Accepted Manuscript for non-commercial Massive Open Online Courses is permitted after the embargo period and provided a CC BY-NC-ND end user license is attached. While the author can create translations of the article for non-commercial scholarly collaborations and sharing, they cannot authorize others to do so.
Authors’ institutions' rights in the article
| Empty table header | OA with CC BY | OA with CC BY-NC | OA with CC BY-NC-ND | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Distribute copies for classroom teaching and internal training purposes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Include in (online) coursework and courseware programs for use within the institution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Include in non-commercial Massive Open Online Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Include in applications for grant funding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Post publicly as part of theses and dissertations, with DOI links to the formal publication | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Elsevier's rights in the article
| Empty table header | OA with CC BY | OA with CC BY-NC | OA with CC BY-NC-ND | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rights to publish, reproduce, display, distribute and otherwise use all or any part of the article, including tables, illustrations or other materials, in print, electronic and all other media (whether now known or later developed) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
To prepare derivative works, in any form, in all languages, throughout the world, for the full term of copyright | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The right to license others to exercise the above rights | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Manage permissions for third party reuse and adaptation of the work for commercial purposes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Others' rights to use the article without permission or payment
| Empty table header | OA with CC BY | OA with CC BY-NC | OA with CC BY-NC-ND | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Distribute the article for non-commercial purposes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Distribute the article for commercial purposes | Yes | No | No | No |
Include in a collective work (such as an anthology) for non-commercial purposes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Include in a collective work (such as an anthology) for commercial purposes | Yes | No | No | No |
Create and distribute revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation) for non-commercial purposes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Create and distribute revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation) for commercial purposes | Yes | No | No | No |
Text or data mine the article for non-commercial purposes | Yes | Yes | Yes1 | No2 |
Text or data mine the article for commercial purposes | Yes | No | No | No |
Notes:
Users accessing content as part of a subscription agreement may have additional rights under that agreement. Users should contact their library or subscription management group for more information.
Further permission may be required from the rights owner for any content within an article that is identified as belonging to a third party.
1In line with the terms of the end user license, adaptations cannot be shared with others.
2Where legal access is obtained by a user, that user is able to text or data mine subscription articles for non-commercial purposes without sharing any adaptation of the original content with others.
Publishing Agreements at Elsevier
Authors publishing with Elsevier sign a Publishing Agreement. This has several important functions, including to confirm the author has complied with publishing ethics policies and that the published article will be the final version of record. When publishing open access, the publishing agreement will set out the terms of the license the author grants to Elsevier to publish their article. In the case of publishing subscription, the agreement will transfer copyright to Elsevier and set out reuse rights to the work. Note: In some circumstances, authors may instead grant Elsevier (or the learned society on whose behalf we publish) an exclusive license to publish and disseminate their work. Please see links to sample Publishing Agreements below.
Additional information on how Elsevier manages commercial licenses for open access articles published under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY-NC licenses
Our experience, based on requests from authors globally across decades, is that the rights that authors themselves have, when publishing open access under a non-commercial Creative Commons license (outlined above), cover the vast majority of the situations in which authors wish to use their work. Authors who are unclear whether their intended use is covered by these rights, should submit their enquiry here to obtain further guidance.
Elsevier sometimes receives direct requests from third parties, such as pharmaceutical companies, to re-use and adapt the article. Elsevier maintains relationships with service providers (such as Rightslink and other reproduction rights organizations) to manage these requests. Elsevier incurs costs in undertaking these activities, and may charge third parties a fee when granting permissions for re-use or adaptation of the article.
Authors publishing under the CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY-NC licenses agree not to license any third party to reuse their articles or any part of their articles for commercial purposes. Elsevier has the exclusive right to license third parties to do this. This enables Elsevier to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and control over appropriate commercial use by third parties.
Authors who are government employees
For US government employees, works created within the scope of their employment are considered to be public domain and Elsevier's publishing agreements do not require a transfer or license of rights for such works.
In the UK and certain commonwealth countries, a work created by a government employee is copyrightable, but the government may own the copyright (Crown copyright). Click here for information about UK government employees publishing open access.
Authors publishing in society-owned journals
Please note that the above terms may differ for society-owned journals. Please refer to the journal homepage and Guide for Authors, or contact the journal for further information.
Find out more
For authors who wish to self-archive see our sharing guidelines
See our author pages for further details about how to promote your article
See our hosting page for additional information on hosting research published by Elsevier
For use of Elsevier material not defined here please see our permissions page or visit the Permissions Support Center
If an author has become aware of a possible plagiarism, fraud or infringement we recommend contacting their Elsevier publishing contact who can then liaise with our in-house legal department
If you are publishing in a society or third party owned journal, they may have different publishing agreements. Please see the journal's Guide for Authors for journal specific copyright information
Frequently asked questions
These reuse and sharing rights have been developed in close consultation with customers and strive to achieve a balance. This enables the author to maximise the reach and impact of the article, and benefit from it, including commercially, while also recognizing the need for Elsevier to recoup its investment in staff and technology to manage peer review and dissemination of the article and maintain research integrity.
There is no one license that will meet the needs and preferences of all authors. This is why we provide a choice of multiple publishing models and licenses to cater for diverse author requirements. We encourage authors to review the above table and the agreements themselves, to make an informed choice that is right for them.
When an article is published under the subscription model, our investments in staff and technology to manage peer review and dissemination of the article and maintain research integrity are covered by subscriptions. We set sharing and reuse policies that maximize author rights while ensuring this model can continue to operate on a sustainable basis. Where authors wish to have broader rights to share and reuse their article, they can opt to publish under the open access model and license of their choice.