APA Permissions Policy

APA supports the dissemination of information to aid in the development of science and scholarly research. APA also values and respects its own intellectual property as well as the intellectual property of others. As a result, APA believes it is essential for publishers of scholarly and other proprietary material to develop an efficient and consistent system, based on mutual trust, for granting permissions for both electronic and print publication of proprietary works. Therefore, APA adopts the following guidelines for the use of APA copyrighted content.

1. Permission Is Required for the following:

• A measure, scale, or instrument
• A video
• Full articles or book chapters
• Single text extracts of more than 400 words
• Series of text extracts that total more than 800 words
• More than three figures or tables from any one journal article
• More than three figures or tables from any one book chapter
• Placement of an abstract of a journal article in a database for subsequent redistribution
• Reuse of content from the public APA web site unless there is a copyright notice on that material stating otherwise
• Content essential to the character of the previously published book or article, when reuse could compromise the sale of the APA publication. Examples include complex illustrations, cartoons, maps, works of art, creative photographs.

This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.

2. Permissions Not Granted

APA will not grant permission for use of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or any portion of the Manual with the exception of the 'Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language,' which appears on pages 61–76 in the fifth edition and on pages 71-77 in the sixth edition. Nor will APA grant permission for use of any products derived from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the APA Dictionary of Psychology and derivative products, or publications from Magination Press.

3. Permission is Not Required for the following:

• a maximum of three figures or tables from a journal article or book chapter, except as noted in 2 above
• single text extracts of less than 400 words, except as noted in 2 above
• series of text extracts that total less than 800 words, except as noted in 2 above

No formal requests to APA or the author are required for the items in this clause.

4. Requirement for Attribution and Credit

APA requires that full credit be given to the author(s) and APA of the material(s) reused. That credit should include the following:

• For material republished from books: author, title, edition, publisher, city, copyright year, and "reprinted [or adapted] with permission."

For material republished from journal articles: author, title of article, title of journal, volume number, issue number (if relevant), page range (or first page if this is the only information available), date, APA as publisher, and "reprinted [or adapted] with permission."

5. Permission from Authors

• When formal APA permission is required to reprint, APA requires that author permission also be obtained. APA does not assist in this effort.
• In the case of multiple authorship, only one author's permission is required.

In most cases, if a good faith effort is demonstrated and the author cannot be contacted, APA will grant permission on its sole authority.

6. Permissions for Electronic Reproductions of APA Content

• When APA grants permission for use of APA content in print, APA will also grant permission for use in an electronic version of the same article or chapter.
• The requesting party should indicate the medium or media in which the APA content will be used at the time of the request.
• APA expects that other publishers will provide reciprocal permissions, granting permission for both print and electronic. APA assumes that any publisher using APA content in both print and electronic will grant APA a license to use their material under the same conditions, subject to STM Permission Guidelines.
• APA does not generally grant permission for any use of APA scholarly content on the public Internet or in listservs.

7. How to Seek Permission

• APA has partnered with the Copyright Clearance Center to provide a web-based permission service using Rightslink®. This service offers users the opportunity to obtain permission to reuse APA book and journal copyrighted materials quickly, easily, and legally.

To use Rightslink® locate the journal article or book title you want to use on the APA web site Then click the Permissions link associated with that item. The majority of requests to use APA copyrighted content will be processed through Rightslink®.

8. Original Material

It is the requesting party's responsibility to ensure that the material is original to APA and that it was not reprinted with permission from a non-APA source.

APA is a signator to STM Permission Guidelines.

In adopting these guidelines, APA seeks to facilitate the exchange of scholarly and professional information. At the same time, APA maintains full authority for protecting and setting policy for works copyrighted by APA.

Seek Permission Now

How to Use APA's Online Permissions Process

• Find an APA Article
• Find an APA Book

Permission Request Form to Use for Other APA Content & Questions

• PDF version (78K)
• Microsoft Word version (164K)

Attention: Authors

• Permissions Alert for APA Authors (43K)
• Posting Articles on the Internet

ADA: Electronic Copies for Students with Disabilities

University officials who want to request an electronic copy of APA material for use by a student with a disability, please fill out the Request for Alternate Electronic Text form.

FAQs

1. What is Rightslink®?
2. How does Rightslink® work?
3. When do you need permission?
4. Why do you need permission?
5. What kinds of reuse does Rightslink® cover?
6. What are the Terms and Conditions?
7. Contact Us

Address Permissions Questions To:

Please use the Permission Request Form

APA Permissions
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Fax: 202-336-5633
E-mail: APA Permissions
Hours of operation: Mon–Fri, 8:30am–5:00pm EST

Address Rightslink® Technical Questions To:

Copyright Clearance Center - Rightslink®
222 Rosewood Drive
Danvers, MA 01923
Fax: 978-774-9213
E-mail: Rightslink Customer Care
Hours of operation: Mon–Fri, 8:30am–5:30pm EST