Images and Figures

You should only use images and figures in your article if they are relevant and valuable to the work reported. Please refrain from adding content of this type which is purely illustrative and does not add value to the scholarly work.

Using third party material

As a warranty in the Journal Author Publishing Agreement you make with us, you must obtain the necessary written permission to include material in your article that is owned and held in copyright by a third party, including – but not limited to – any proprietary text, illustration, table, or other material, including data, audio, video, film stills, screenshots, musical notation, and any supplemental material.

Read our guide to using third-party material in your article, including FAQs on requesting permission to reproduce work(s) under copyright.

Obtaining permission to publish identifiable or protected content

Content (e.g. photographs, video or audio recordings, 3D models, illustrations, etc) which can reveal the identity of patients, study participants or study subjects can only be included if they (or parents/guardians if they are underage or considered unable to provide informed consent, or their next of kin if participants are deceased) have provided consent to publish.

If any of this type of content has been obtained from communities where additional permissions are required (e.g. an Elder or community leader in an indigenous community), or from a protected source (e.g. museum collections), then authors must obtain the required permissions for use prior to submission of the manuscript.

Please read our full policies on the use of images and figures.

These include specific considerations for arts, humanities, and social sciences research, relating to cultural sensitivities or restrictions associated with any images included.

There are also specific considerations for science, technology, and medicine, including detailing any image modifications and our policies on inappropriate image manipulation.