Permission to reprint published material
Review articles frequently make use of previously published figures or tables. If this is true of your own article,
you must obtain permission to reprint any material from other published work. Reviews of Modern Physics does not
require evidence of these permissions, but we assume you would be able to produce such evidence if called upon.
For material that appeared in an APS journal (Physical Review, Physical Review Letters, or Reviews of Modern
Physics) the American Physical Society holds the copyright. To reprint this material in another APS journal such as
RMP does not require permission from the publisher, but as a courtesy you should write to the author asking his or
her consent. This gives the author a chance to advise you of more recent data and is also an opportunity for you to
request originals or prints that will look better than copies scanned from journal pages.
Other publishers have different policies and procedures, which you can often find described on the inside covers of
their publications. When seeking permission from them, remember that the copyright for reprinted figures and tables
remains with the original publication. All you need is permission to reprint.
Our usual credit appears at the end of the figure caption in this form: From Asklund, 2003. The full reference is then
given in the References section. If you modify the original figure, the credit should say ”Adapted from” rather than
”From.”
People sometimes ask whether they can use a figure file from an online article and just copy and paste it into their
own article. Assuming permission has been granted, the answer depends on the quality of the file. Up until January
2004, figures in the online editions of all APS journals were ”downsampled,” i.e., saved at a low resolution in order
to economize on file size. A downsampled figure, especially a color one, will not give as good a quality reproduction
as one scanned from the paper edition of the same article. From January of 2004 on, a different graphics approach
will phase out downsampling and result in better image quality. The new graphics should be reusable in subsequent
publications.
A sample permissions request follows, which you are free to modify.
—————–SAMPLE PERMISSION REQUEST—————–
Dear
,
I am preparing an article entitled ”
” for submission to Reviews of Modern Physics. I would
appreciate permission to reproduce in this article the following:
Appropriate credit will of course be given.
If you have a good-quality original of this figure/table, I would be very grateful to receive it.
For your convenience a release form is provided below and a copy of this letter is enclosed for your files. Thank you
very much for you attention to this request.
Sincerely,
I/We grant permission for the use requested above.
Person granting
Holder of copyright
Date