Archives: Questions
Do I need to obtain permission to use a figure I have adapted from a previously published figure?
Do I need to obtain permission to use figure(s) taken from prior publications of which I was an author or co-author?
What happens after you have submitted your revised article?
Your revised article and response to the referees will normally be sent back to one or more of the referees (minor revisions may be checked by our in-house staff). At this point, the referee(s) may recommend acceptance of your paper, or request further revisions. If the referee(s) are not satisfied with the changes made or are unable to report on the revised manuscript, we may consult an Editorial Board Member. (Occasionally, if the referee(s) and Editorial Board are not satisfied with the changes made to a manuscript, it may still be rejected at this stage.) Once your article is deemed to be acceptable for publication, you will receive a ‘provisional acceptance’ letter. This will be followed by a ‘formal acceptance’ letter when we have received from you everything we need to proceed with publication of your article (including your source files, completed copyright form and any permissions if necessary).
Completing IOP’s copyright form: queries
Each journal has a specific copyright form that authors must sign before an article can be accepted. This will be made available to you by the journal team after article submission. If you have any queries on completing the copyright form, please contact the relevant journal email address.
Copyright FAQs: do the answers to these questions apply to all IOP journals?
No, not all. These FAQs apply to the majority of IOP-owned journals. Please see IOP’s list of journals to access the relevant journal’s webpage.
Some of our publishing partner journals may vary.
Do you take a transfer of copyright for all content accompanying the subscription article?
No, we only take a transfer of copyright for the subscription article itself. This does not include any supplementary material or any video abstract you produce for the article, in which we generally take a non-exclusive licence. IOP does not take ownership of the underlying data or science. Please check the terms of the copyright form for full details.
How to submit your revised article
Please submit all revised submissions via the link in the e-mail you received informing you of the decision and asking you to make the revisions.
When submitting a revised article, we require you to upload the revised PDF file (deleting the original version) and your latest set of the source files used to create the revised PDF (typically Word or LaTeX files). In addition, you will need to submit your point-by-point response to the referees and either a list of the changes made or a version of the manuscript with the changes highlighted.
If you need to make any changes to the author list, please contact the journal explaining the change (see our section on what constitutes authorship). Note that all co-authors need to approve any changes made to the author list after submission.
If you experience any problems submitting your article online, please contact the journal for assistance.
You will subsequently be asked to complete and submit the online copyright form, if you have not done so already, and to provide written permissions if your article makes use of any previously published material or material for which you are not the copyright owner.
What happens to the copyright in my article if it is rejected?
The transfer or licence of copyright under the copyright form has no effect unless and until an article has been accepted for publication. On acceptance, the copyright in the article transfers to IOP and/or its licensors/a non-exclusive licence is granted to IOP and/or its licensors. If an article is rejected by IOP then the copyright remains with the original copyright holder (i.e. the authors or their institutions), no licence is granted and the copyright form has no effect.
Do all journals require a transfer of copyright?
No. Where we are publishing an article on a gold open access basis then, for IOP journals, we require a non-exclusive licence of copyright instead. You will need to check the copyright form of the journal to which you have submitted, to familiarize yourself with its terms before submission. By submitting the copyright form, you are deemed to have accepted all of its terms.