The first step to requesting permissions is to find the copyright owner. Because authors sometimes transfer their copyrights to publishers during the publication process, the copyright owner is often the publisher and not the original creator. It is a good idea to visit the publisher site to locate information on permissions requesting. Some publishers have developed tools to help you locate the right person to ask for permissions. For example:
Once you've located the copyright owner, and if they do not have a proscribed method of accepting permissions requests (like RightsLink), you should remember to include as much information about your proposed use as possible in your request or use a template form:
Journal article:Note. From “Title of the article,” by W. Jones and R. Smith, 2007, Journal Title, 21, p. 122.Copyright 2007 by Copyright Holder. Reprinted with permission.Book:Note. From Title of Book (p. 103), by A.N. Author and C.O. Author, 1994, Place of Publication:Publisher. Copyright 1994 by the Name of Copyright Holder. Reprinted with permission.
Journal article:Note. From “Title of the article,” by W. Jones and R. Smith, 2007, Journal Title, 21, p. 122. CC-BY-NC 2007 by Copyright Holder. Used with Permission.
Graduate students often publish articles in the course of obtaining their degree. The publication process may require a transfer of copyright. As an author wanting to reuse content in your ETD that you have published with a transfer of copyright, you will need to work within the author rights allowed by your publishing contract or request permissions from your publisher.
The Tampa library has created a companion guide with a growing directory of author rights specific to use in ETDs. Your publisher's policy may be found there: