CC-BY publishing and reader permissions CC-BY publishing and reader permissions

CC-BY publishing and reader permissions

This article explains the process of publishing your BioRender illustrations under the CC-BY 4.0 license and how readers of open access journals can use and modify these figures. It also outlines the permissions for authors, the steps involved for readers requesting access to figures, and the necessary licensing details for re-use or modification.

Table of contents

  1. Definitions
  2. What is the CC-BY 4.0 license?
  3. Science Corner: How CC BY benefits your scientific work and the community
  4. Legal Corner: Copyright Implications of CC BY 4.0
  5. Publishing your figure under CC BY
  6. The Reader Experience: How readers can create modified versions of your figures.
  7. Troubleshooting and FAQ's
  8. Related articles
  9. What's next
  10. Need help?

Definitions

  • Creative Commons (CC): A nonprofit organization that provides free licenses allowing creators to easily share their work.
  • CC BY 4.0 (Attribution): Allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
  • Open Access: Free and unrestricted online access to scholarly research.

What is the CC-BY 4.0 license?

The CC BY 4.0 license is one of the most open Creative Commons licenses. It allows maximum freedom for sharing and adaptation of your work. Under CC BY 4.0, users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Science Corner: How CC BY benefits your scientific work and the community

Choosing the CC BY license benefits both you and your readers:

  • Readers benefit: Anyone can freely download, reuse, republish, or even remix your beautifully crafted BioRender figures.
  • You benefit: Your scientific work reaches a wider audience, enhancing visibility, citations, and impact.
Pros of Open-Access Publishing Cons
Increased visibility and broader dissemination of your research. We honestly can’t think of any!
Greater potential for citations and impact.
Enhanced opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
Easier integration of your figures and findings into educational resources and teaching materials.
Improved accessibility for researchers globally, regardless of institutional affiliation.
Facilitates innovation by allowing others to build directly on your work.
Supports transparency and reproducibility in science.
Faster dissemination accelerates scientific discovery and knowledge advancement.
Encourages interdisciplinary research by making content readily available to diverse audiences.

Legal Corner: Copyright Implications of CC BY 4.0

Publishing your BioRender figures under CC BY 4.0 means:

  • Your figures can be freely reused, modified, and distributed by others.
  • Users must provide appropriate attribution to you and BioRender.
  • Users must clearly indicate if your original figures have been modified or adapted.

You retain copyright ownership, but you grant others broad permissions to use your work.

There is a caveat to the above, however. Because the BioRender icons are BioRender’s proprietary property and we need to preserve our rights to maintain a thriving business, we reserve the right to restrict anyone from extracting the icons and distributing them by themselves. 

Here’s a breakdown of the legal rights:

Rights you’re granting Rights you’re not granting

Re-use: Anyone can reuse your Completed Graphic, provided they give attribution to you (the original author). 

Here’s an example of a proper attribution:

“Mouse Influenza Progression” created in BioRender. Smith, J. (https://biorender.com/shortURL) is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Editing/Modification: Anyone can edit, modify, or adapt your Completed Graphic, with proper attribution.

Remixing: Anyone can remix or combine your Completed Graphic with different icons or images, as long as they provide attribution if the resulting graphic includes BioRender Content.

Here’s an example of a proper attribution for a remixed BioRender figure:

“Modified Mouse Influenza Progression” by R. Smith is adapted from “Mouse Influenza Progression” created in BioRender. Smith, J (https://biorender.com/shortURL) is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Re-publication: Anyone can republish your Completed Graphic (including in other publications, websites, presentations, or educational materials) with proper attribution.

Use without Attribution. The CC BY 4.0 requires each re-use to include attribution. 

Extraction of Icons: People cannot extract individual BioRender icons or content from your Completed Figures for independent redistribution or reuse.

Publishing your figure under CC BY

To publish your figure in a CC BY journal, you first need to generate a publication license and then provide the correct attribution. 

Instructions:

  1. How to generate the publication license: You can generate a publication license by exporting your image from BioRender. For instructions on how to do that, see this Help Center article.
  2. How to provide attribution: To provide proper attribution and allow readers to view the figure in full resolution, include the unique figure URL with your published figure.
  3. How to allow others to create new versions of your figure: As the author, you can decide whether people can copy your figure for the purpose of making modifications to it within BioRender.

 

An important note on disabling access: If you disable public access for a figure published under the CC BY license, it will become inaccessible via the BioRender. It is not possible to revoke a CC BY license..

The Reader Experience: How readers can create modified versions of your figures.

When a reader views your figure:

  • The reader can click the unique figure URL, which leads them to a visitor landing page displaying the full-resolution image, citation, and licensing details.
  • If the reader wishes to create a modified version of your figure, they can request an editable version by selecting “Request an editable version” on the visitor page.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Why can’t I access/modify my figure?

  • If you disabled public access, this could be the reason. Ensure public access is enabled for the figure you’ve published under the CC BY license. Once disabled, the publication license will be revoked, and the figure will no longer be available for reuse.

Why can’t readers request an editable version of my figure?

  • As the author, ensure that you have granted permission for the figure to be adapted as a public template. If you have not, readers won’t be able to request an editable version.

What if I want to reuse or republish someone else's figure in a book publication?

Please see this article: How to use your figures in a textbook/book publication (👑 Premium only)

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What's next

🎥 Watch: Webinar – Mastering Science Communication: The Power or Visuals in Research.
Explore how visual storytelling and AI-assisted figure creation can supercharge your scientific communication. Watch now on Learning Hub ↗

🖼️ Explore: BioRender Templates. Publication-Ready Figures. Browse real examples of figures used in published research across various scientific fields. Explore templates ↗

Need help?

  1. Email: support@biorender.com
  2. Live Chat: Available by clicking on the "Help" bubble in the app on the bottom right-hand corner.

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