Copyright & Licensing
At a Glance
Copyright
Who owns the published work.
Author Rights
What authors may retain or reuse.
License
How readers may use the published article.
Permissions
What is required for uses outside the license.
Copyright & Open Access
Open Access describes access and reuse conditions; copyright describes ownership and legal rights. An Open Access article can still carry copyright restrictions. See PenScholar’s Open Access policy for how the two relate.
Copyright Does Not Determine Peer Review
Copyright ownership and peer review are separate aspects of academic publishing. See PenScholar’s peer review policy.
Copyright Ownership
Copyright arrangements vary by journal — whether copyright is retained by the author, held by the publisher, or otherwise arranged is confirmed on each journal’s page. Open Access status does not, by itself, determine who holds copyright, and publisher ownership does not, by itself, prevent author reuse — the actual agreement controls.
Author Rights
The rights an author retains — such as sharing the published article, depositing a permitted version, or reusing figures and tables from their own work — depend on the copyright and licensing arrangement of the journal they publish with.
Reusing Your Published Work
Reuse of your own article in a thesis, dissertation, book, course materials, institutional repository, or future scholarly work depends on your publishing agreement and the applicable license, rather than being assumed. Specific terms are confirmed on the relevant journal’s page.
Article Licensing
The license attached to a published article determines how readers and third parties may reuse it. Where PenScholar adopts a Creative Commons or other license, the exact license will be shown on the journal’s page along with what it permits, its attribution requirements, and its restrictions. No specific license is assumed until one is adopted.
Publishing Rights
To publish, distribute, host, and preserve an article — and to assign persistent identifiers such as a DOI — PenScholar requires the rights set out in the author’s publishing agreement for that journal.
What Readers May Do
| Use | Permission |
|---|---|
| Read | Based on the journal’s access policy |
| Download | Based on the journal’s access policy |
| Share | Based on the applicable license |
| Cite | Yes, with proper attribution |
| Teach | Based on the applicable license |
| Reproduce | Based on the applicable license |
| Adapt or translate | Based on the applicable license |
| Commercial use | Based on the applicable license |
Attribution
Where reuse is permitted, attribution should generally retain the author, article title, journal, DOI, source, and license so the work remains traceable to its original publication.
Third-Party Material
An article’s license may not automatically cover photographs, figures, tables, illustrations, maps, data, or other material where separate third-party rights are held. Check the relevant credit line and rights statement before reusing such material — it should not be assumed that everything inside an article belongs to the article’s copyright holder.
Copyright and database rights in underlying research data may also differ from copyright in the article itself.
Request Permission
Additional permission may be needed for uses outside the applicable license — including commercial reuse, restricted adaptation, use of third-party material, or reproduction beyond what the license permits. Requests are directed to the editorial office.
Copyright Concerns
If you believe published content infringes a copyright, contact the editorial office with the article in question, the material affected, the nature of the concern, and any supporting evidence, so it can be properly assessed.
Publishing Agreement
As part of completing a submission, authors are asked to agree to the terms governing copyright, licensing, and publishing rights for that journal. The published text of this agreement will be linked here once it is finalized and publicly available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns copyright in a PenScholar article?
Copyright arrangements vary by journal and are confirmed on that journal’s page once finalized.
What rights do authors retain?
The rights authors retain depend on the copyright and licensing arrangement of the journal they publish with, confirmed on that journal’s page.
What license applies to published articles?
The applicable license, if any, is confirmed on each journal’s page once finalized.
Can I share a PenScholar article?
Sharing permissions depend on the applicable license, confirmed on the relevant journal’s page.
Can I reuse a figure or table?
Figures and tables may carry separate rights from the article itself; check the credit line before reuse.
Can I use an article in a university course?
Educational use depends on the applicable license, confirmed on the relevant journal’s page.
Can I include an article in a thesis or dissertation?
This depends on the author’s publishing agreement and the applicable license for that article.
Can I deposit the article in a repository?
Self-archiving permissions, where they exist, are confirmed on the relevant journal’s page.
Do I need permission for commercial reuse?
Where a license restricts commercial use, permission can be requested by contacting the editorial office.
What is Creative Commons licensing?
Creative Commons licenses are standardized public licenses that define how published work may be reused. PenScholar will confirm which license, if any, applies once its licensing model is finalized.
How do I request permission?
Reuse beyond what a license permits can be requested by contacting the editorial office.