Can I use a figure that’s been published elsewhere?
Yes, but you’ll need to:
- get written permission from the copyright holder of the figure, this is usually the publisher
- cite the source in the caption of the figure
- send the written permission to us when you submit your chapter.
Getting permission from other STM publishers
Don’t worry, it’s not a difficult process. The STM Permissions Guidelines give details of the publishers who have signed up to these guidelines, and what they require. Each publisher who’s signed up will give you permission to re-use some material free of charge, and you might not even need to ask.
The IEEE and ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) haven’t signed up and will charge you to reuse their figures. IEEE charges range from $10 if you’re a member, to $37.50 if you aren’t. The ACM charge $92.50.
The IEEE, ACM and Springer have automated the granting of permissions. We've created guides to help you fill out their forms.
How am I paid royalties?
We pay your royalties annually, covering sales in the previous calendar year, directly into your bank account. You’ll receive a statement by email, detailing how many copies of your book we sold in each format, and explaining the royalty calculation. Please be sure to let us know about any changes to your contact details or bank details.
Piracy and copyright infringement
These are unfortunate features of today’s publishing landscape, and we completely understand if you’re somewhat concerned. We actively work hard to stop your work appearing online for sharing with others without your permission.
Our approach to piracy is to target the websites that host these files and use legal forms called ‘take-down notices’ to get the files removed. We’ve partnered with the Publishers’ Association to actively monitor the leading sites known for hosting unauthorised files. It’s an effective method, and over two-thirds of the pirated files are removed within a few days of the notice being received.
The internet is a seemingly endless platform and we might sometimes miss something. If you see an unauthorised copy of your book, send us the address of the website, and we’ll make sure it’s taken down.
For questions or more information on any of the above, please email author_support@theiet.org
We’re upgrading our systems, and this includes changes to our customer and member account log in, MyIET. It’s part of our big picture plan to deliver a great experience for you and our wider engineering community.
Whilst most of our websites remain available for browsing, it will not be possible to log in to purchase products or access services from Thursday, 17 April to Wednesday, 30 April 2025. Our Member Relations team is here to help and for many of our services, including processing payments or orders, we’ll be able to support you over the phone on +44 (0)1438 765678 or email via membership@theiet.org.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.
For further information related to specific products and services, please visit our FAQs webpage.