To be agreed to by corresponding author or guarantor on behalf of all authors ("Corresponding Author")*

The BMJ Publishing Group requires authors of contributions for its journal “BMJ”to grant an exclusive licence to help ensure international protection against infringement of copyright for content it publishes, in particular unauthorised photocopying, digital distribution, and other use by third parties, and so that it can handle requests from third parties to reproduce contributions or parts of contributions. If copyright is held by your employer you must obtain the employer’s express written authority to grant an exclusive licence. However, if you are a government employee in agreeing to this licence you have obtained authority to grant a non-exclusive worldwide licence to publish in any media, known now or in the future created, and exploit all subsidiary rights.

If the contributions are not published in either the print or electronic versions of the BMJ or any other BMJ PG products, within 12 months of acceptance (or as otherwise agreed), this agreement shall automatically terminate and all rights shall revert to the copyright owner.

1. In consideration of the BMJPG agreeing to publish the contribution, the authors (or author, in the case of a sole author) grant:
   
   • The BMJPG and its licensees (and any permitted assigns in accordance with clause 5),  for the full period of copyright, including any renewals or extensions throughout the world and in all languages, an exclusive licence (or non-exclusive, where the author(s) are government employees) to publish the above contribution or permit others to do so, in any media including without limitation printed, and electronic editions, including online, other electronic or digital form whether known now or in the future created, broadcasting and including within the BMJ and in other derivative or collective works owned solely or jointly by the BMJPG, and to exploit all subsidiary rights in the contribution.
2. The author(s) confirm that they are the sole author(s) of the contribution which is original work. It has not been previously published in whole or substantial part. The author(s) are the copyright owners of the contribution or are expressly authorised by the copyright owner to grant this licence.
3. The author(s) warrant to the best of their knowledge that the contribution does not contain anything which is libelous, illegal or infringes any ones copyright or other rights.
4. The author(s) acknowledge and accept that BMJPG may make additional changes to the contribution as considered necessary in accordance with standard editorial processes.  Every effort will be made to consult with the Corresponding Author if we make substantial alterations.
5. The author(s) hereby agree that in the event that the BMJPG sell the whole or part of its business to any third party the licence contained herein shall be assigned to that third party.
6. Ownership of copyright remains with the author(s). In return for the grant of the exclusive licence, the author (s) (or, if copyright is vested in the author(s)’s employer, the author (s)’s employer) shall have the following rights for non-commercial use of the contribution, (subject to the proviso that when reproducing the contribution or extracts from it, the authors acknowledge first publication in the BMJ and provide a full reference or web link as appropriate):
   
   • The right to reproduce a reasonable number of copies of the contribution, by photocopying or downloading from the bmj.com, for personal or professional (non-commercial) use but excluding where any commercial use including selling the right to access the article.  It is permitted for authors to use  the article for their own teaching purposes.
   • The right to post an exact replica pdf version of the article, with the necessary    acknowledgement and link to the bmj.com website, the contribution on the contributor(s)’s own, or the contributor(s)’s institution’s, website for which no charge for access is made. For the avoidance of doubt, no commercial use may be made of the contribution which includes the resale to any person or entity or consideration or granting any other third party rights, without our expressed written consent.
   • The right to publish with the necessary acknowledgement all or part of the material from the published contribution in a book written or edited by the contributor(s). This does not apply to multiple contributions in the same journal, for which permission must be sought.
   • The right to use selected figures and tables and selected text (up to 250 words) from the contribution for incorporation within another work written by the contributor, that is made part of an edited work published in print or digital format by a third party.
   • The right to include the contribution in a compilation for classroom use (course packs) to be distributed free of charge to students at the contributor’s institution or to be stored in digital format in datarooms for access by students as part of their course work and for in house training programmes of the contributor(s)’s employer. This does not apply if any charge is made for the compilation (other than photocopying costs) or the training programme.
   • The right to receive a royalty for up to 5 years from publication of 10% of any net receipts less sales commission on orders in excess of £1500 received by the publisher for any single article reprint or translation sales to a single third party subject however to any fee being determined (if charged) at the absolute discretion of BMJ PG as may be altered from time to time. If we receive such an order for reprint sales of your article, we will contact the author who submits the article (“Corresponding Author”) at the address given on the published article to find out to whom payment should be made. Corresponding Authors have the responsibility to ensure that all authors have agreed what should be done with any such royalty payment.
7. The author(s) authorise the publisher to take such steps as it considers necessary at its own expense in the author(s’) name and on their behalf if it believes that a third party is infringing or is likely to infringe copyright or the rights granted to the BMJPG herein in the contribution.
8. The author(s) hereby consent to the inclusion of electronic links from the contribution to the third party material, where-ever it may be located.
9. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England without regard to the principles of conflicts of law. The parties hereto submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Our preferred way of receiving the granting of this licence is by a statement in the manuscript (“The Corresponding Author has the right to grant on behalf of all authors and does grant on behalf of all authors, an exclusive licence (or non exclusive for government employees) on a worldwide basis to the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and its licensees , to permit this article (if accepted) to be published in BMJ editions and any other BMJPG products and to exploit all subsidiary rights, as set out in our licence (http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/authors/checklists-forms/licence-for-publication)”)

We will also accept the above statement in an email.

Download a copy of the licence agreement (PDF - 80KB)