Publishing Question

Hi everyone. I'm currently trying to publish my first article and I have a couple of questions. First, does one have to be affiliated with an institution in order to publish? And second, the journal I would like to publish in states this on their site:

Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.

Does this mean that I have to obtain permission from the original author even if I just quote them?

Thanks so much!

Comments

[Marcus Arvan]

Hi Jason: I'm pretty sure the answer to both of your questions is "no." Publications by individuals without academic affiliation are relatively rare, but they do happen. And, as far as I am aware, the only time you (may) need to seek permission from an author is if you're using a figure or table of theirs.

[David Morrow]

I agree with Marcus. Regarding your first question: When my first paper was going to press, I was a recent PhD with no job (and so no institutional affiliation). It took a little bit of back-and-forth, but I think the journal listed me as "a recent PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center" or something like that. If you're submitting through a manuscript submission system that asks for an affiliation, you might give your graduate program, even if you've already finished your degree there.

As for your second question: Unless the quote is exceptionally long, quoting someone else is "fair use," and so not subject to copyright restrictions. My guess is that what the publisher is really concerned about is the use of one's own material that's been published elsewhere. If you publish a paper with Publisher X and transfer copyright to X, and then you submit a paper to Publisher Y that contains, e.g., several paragraphs listed from the earlier paper, then legally, you would need to seek X's permission to reprint those paragraphs in the paper submitted to Y.

[Jeremy Pierce]

Does anyone know the usual expectations for using material from published papers in a book? And does it matter if the book was under contract before the paper was accepted?

[Marcus Arvan]

Jeremy: I'm not exactly sure, but I do think there is a real worry here. Almost all journals explicitly require that papers not be under review or forthcoming *anywhere* else -- including, I take it, in a book. The reason why they have this requirement is fairly obvious. Why would/should they waste time publishing an article if consumers can buy/cite it elsewhere? If I were were in the position you describe, I would make very, *very* sure that the journal that has accepted the paper does not mind if the same material also comes out in a book. Otherwise, you run the risk of transgressing your professional, and legal, obligations -- which I don't think is very wise for an early-career scholar. God forbid, but someone could in principle lodge an accusation of research misconduct -- and in any case it wouldn't look good.

[Dan Dennis]

I don't disagree with Marcus. However it is okay if papers first published in journals are then subsequently used in books. Perhaps it is a question of timing. Most journals don't want papers to be accessible other than via the journal for 6 months or a year or sometimes more. After that time it is okay by them for authors to have the final version on their websites or open access university archive. (As I understand it). So maybe as long as the paper will come out with the journal 6 months or a year - or whatever the journal specifies - before the book, that would be okay. That would be logical at least...