Rights, Licences and Permissions

Publishing scholarly materials involves responsibility for the content of the publication, for holding the rights to all materials used, and for obtaining any required permissions.

Detailed terms concerning copyright, licences, reuse of materials and making publications available may vary depending on the arrangements adopted by the journal editorial office, the publisher of a publication series, the book publisher and/or the publishing unit.

1. Responsibility for the content of a publication

The views, opinions, interpretations and conclusions presented in publications reflect solely the positions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the University of Warsaw, its governing bodies or organisational units.

Authors are responsible for the substantive content of their works, their reliability, originality and integrity, and for ensuring that the use of materials included in the publication complies with applicable law and requirements.

The University of Warsaw does not assume the author’s responsibility for the content of their publication or for the author’s possession of the rights and permissions required to use third-party materials.

The University of Warsaw and the relevant publishing units are responsible for applying the adopted standards of the publishing process and for taking measures to protect the integrity of the published scholarly record.

2. Authors’ declarations concerning rights

When submitting material for publication, the author should confirm that:

• the submitted work is original;
• the material does not infringe copyright or other rights of third parties;
• materials used from other sources have been properly identified and attributed to their creators;
• all permissions and authorisations required to use protected materials have been obtained;
• any earlier dissemination or publication of the material has been disclosed in accordance with the rules applicable to the publication;
• the author is entitled to grant the rights or licences required in connection with publication.

3. Third-party materials

The author is responsible for determining whether materials originating from other persons or entities may be used in the publication being prepared.

This applies in particular to such elements as:

• photographs and illustrations;
• charts and diagrams;
• tables;
• maps;
• drawings and reproductions;
• longer quotations and text excerpts;
• other materials subject to copyright or other restrictions on their use.

Merely identifying the source does not replace the required permission where such permission is necessary for lawful use of the material.

4. Reuse of the author’s own materials

The obligation to verify third-party copyright also applies to materials published by the author in their earlier works.

The obligation to verify rights also applies to materials previously published by the author themselves.

Before reusing their own text, illustration, table, chart or other element, the author should determine what rights were previously granted to the publisher and whether reuse of the material requires permission.

Earlier use of the material should be appropriately indicated in accordance with the rules of the relevant journal editorial office or publisher.

5. Originality, plagiarism and republication

Only original materials should be submitted for publication. Quotations and borrowed material should be properly identified and accompanied by an appropriate reference to the source.

Unattributed copying of another person’s content, arguments or results may constitute plagiarism.

Reuse of the author’s own previously published content should also be transparent and comply with the applicable rules on copyright and citation.

Authors should inform the editorial office about any earlier publication, dissemination or availability of the material if this may be relevant to the decision on its publication.

6. Permissions concerning persons, data and protected information

If a publication involves research with human participants, confidential materials or information subject to legal protection, authors are responsible for obtaining the required consents and permissions.

Authors are required to provide the necessary documents and permissions at the request of the journal editorial office or publisher.

7. Corresponding author and required permissions

The corresponding author is responsible for communication between the editorial office and co-authors and for providing the required information, declarations and permissions.

The corresponding author should ensure that the permissions required for the materials used are available and can be provided to the editorial office if necessary.

8. Publishing agreement and licence

The terms of publication, the scope of the author’s rights and the rights granted to the journal, publisher of a publication series or other publishing unit are set out in the relevant publishing agreement or licence.

Before making a declaration that an agreement has been concluded, the author should familiarise themselves with its terms, in particular the rules concerning:

• rights retained by the author;
• rights granted to the publisher;
• the nature of the licence;
• reuse of the publication;
• making versions of the publication available;
• Open Access rules, where applicable.

If the author is not entitled to grant a licence to publish the text or otherwise transfer the relevant rights, or if there is uncertainty concerning their status, the author is required to contact the relevant journal editorial office or publisher before submitting the text.

9. Open Access and Creative Commons licences

University of Warsaw publications may be made available under different models and licensing terms. Individual publications do not have to use the same licence.

If a publication is made available under a Creative Commons licence, the scope of permitted copying, distribution, adaptation or other use is determined by the specific licence indicated with the publication.

For example, the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence permits sharing and adaptation of the material provided that appropriate credit is given to the author or authors. However, the licence assigned to a specific publication should always be checked.

10. Sharing and reuse of published materials

Whether material may be copied, distributed, made available, adapted or republished depends on the nature of the rights and the licensing terms applicable to the specific publication.

Before reusing material, the copyright and licence information provided with the publication should be checked and the required form of attribution of the author and source should be applied.

It should also be remembered that some elements contained in a publication may originate from third parties and be subject to separate terms of use, independently of the licence assigned to the work as a whole.

11. Research data and accompanying materials

The rules applicable to a publication do not necessarily apply automatically to research data, supplementary materials or other accompanying resources.

Authors should take into account the requirements of institutions, funding bodies and repositories concerning data sharing and should check the licensing terms applicable to individual materials.

12. Confidentiality and protection of intellectual property before publication

During the editorial process, materials submitted for publication are treated as confidential.

Editors, reviewers, members of editorial teams and other persons involved in the process should protect the manuscript and the information it contains against unauthorised disclosure, use, plagiarism or other misappropriation.

This protection also covers unpublished research ideas and other elements of intellectual property contained in the submitted material.

13. Infringement of rights after publication

Credible reports concerning the use of materials without permission, copyright infringement, violation of privacy or other serious legal issues should be investigated by the relevant journal editorial office, publisher or publishing unit.

Depending on the nature and significance of the issue, appropriate post-publication action may be taken, including correction or retraction of the publication.

Complete removal of published material should be exceptional. It may be justified in particular by serious legal considerations where retraction of the publication alone proves insufficient.

14. Detailed rules applied by journal editorial offices or publishers

Before submitting material, the author should familiarise themselves with the detailed policy of the relevant journal, publisher of a publication series, or publishing unit.

In particular, the author should check information concerning the publishing agreement, copyright, the applicable licence, Open Access, prior publication, repositories and the permissions required for the use of materials created by third parties.

Contact

Questions concerning rights and permissions relating to a specific publication should in the first instance be directed to the relevant editorial office or publishing unit.