ACS Style is the most common citation style for chemists.
Try a reference manager. All reference managers have advantages and disadvantages. Mostly, it is a matter of preference. For more information about reference managers, go to
Probably not unless you plan on publishing your work publically (thesis or dissertation, journal article, etc). If you want to reuse images/figures from another author in your published work use the Copyright Clearance Center opens new window to find permission rules for various publishers.
You can also email a librarian for more help.
Publishers often have their own citation style which is slightly different than a standard citation style. For example, The Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry uses a slightly modified version of ACS Style. Always check the publisher for citation requirements.
Guidelines for preparing dissertations and theses at The University of Akron (PDF).
Answer these five questions in order:
Do you own the copyright? (Do you really?)
Publisher rights: Your publisher may hold the copyright.
Work for hire: Your employer may hold the copyright.
Students have rights, too… Don't ignore your students' copyrights.
Beware: If you find something on a website, the website creator may not be the owner of the copyright of materials on the page.
Is it in the public domain?
Copyright holder gives up all rights
U.S. Federal government works:
Beware: Some information listed on government sites may not be in the public domain (if the work was produced by a non-government contract)
Beware: Slogans, emblems, or logos are covered by trademark law, not copyright law.
Works with expired term of copyright
Tools:
Digital Copyright Slider opens new window
Appropedia Public Domain Search opens new window (be sure to read conditions/stipulations)
Classroom use exemption, must be:
In a classroom (not anywhere else in the school)
In person, engaged in face-to-face instruction (not online or via distance)
At a non-profit educational institution (not at a for-profit)
Using a legitimately, legally-acquired copy
Performed or displayed (not distributed, handed out)
TEACH Act (distance / online education)
TEACH Act Checklist opens new window
Purchase of item includes a license that allows the use, like public performance rights, site licenses for software, etc.
Creative Commons licenses opens new window
Use CC's license chooser for help selecting one for yourself.
Search for Permissive media opens new window
Consider these four factors (see Fair Use Checklist): opens new window
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
The nature of the copyrighted work;
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Locate the copyright owner, explain your intended use, and request permission.
No response or answer is no: reconsider use (is there something you can do to make it a fair use?) or choose another source.
Be aware of mashups: each element may require permission.
Pay for use: Copyright Clearance Center opens new window
Do you need permission to reuse?
If you transferred copyright to the journal publisher, the figure is no longer yours. Authors have to sign a copyright transfer agreement and your reuse rights are detailed in that agreement. You can always recreate a figure from the data if necessary.
Can you do this without permission?
No. The copyright holder must give permission for you to legally reuse their work in a published work such as a dissertation.
Who would you contact?
It depends on the publisher. Usually the Copyright Clearance Center opens new window will be the place to go. For ACS publications, the permissions request is on the website of the article in the right side column “Article Options”. Just select “Rights & Permissions”.
Can I do this without permission?
No. You still have to ask the copyright holder, even if that person is the graduate student next to you in lab.
Can my advisor give me permission?
It depends. If your advisor created the figure and gave permission for your group mate to use the figure, then your advisor owns copyright and can grant permission. If the student created the work, the figure belongs to them.
What if we used this figure in a peer-reviewed article?
It depends. Usually, publishers require the scholar to transfer copyright to the publisher. In this manner, most professors do not own copyright to their peer-reviewed publications or the figures in them. But this depends on the publication forum.
Do I have to get copyright permission to present a chemical structure?
No. A chemical structure is really data and you can't copyright data. NMR shifts and crystallographic space groups are other examples of non-copyrightable data. That said, the representation of the data is copyrightable. NMR spectra, a crystallographic unit cell representation, etc.
Can I just copy any structure I find?
No. You still have to create your own chemical structure (preferably using ChemDraw or a similar professional tool). You can't copy and paste someone else’s work. If you had access to the raw data from an experiment, you could recreate a table without permission.
Do I need permission?
Yes. You either need permission, or you need to use an image with the permission already granted. The best practice is to find images with clear usage rights established, such as a creative-commons license, that allows you permission for your non-commercial reuse.
Can I use a picture from the Internet in my peer-reviewed publications?
Probably not. If you want to use the image for publication in a journal, I strongly encourage you take your own pictures. Journals generally want exclusive rights to all the content they publish.
Can I use figures without permission?
Most likely. If all of the following statements are true, you can usually use it.
This is a statutory exception to normal copyright called the classroom exemption.