- Authors are invited to upload 1-2 possible TOC images (see What is a TOC image and where/how do I upload it? and What makes a good TOC image) as supplementary file using the TOC image category. In the upload form, it is critical to specify who holds the copyright and where the image comes from. We do not tolerate "lifting" images from the web unless they are licensed under Creative Commons (see below and What is a "Creative Commons License"?) or copyright free or the copyright is owned by the authors. Since March 2017 we are now using a structured form where input of the source (e.g. Author/Website), copyright holder, URL and license information is mandatory. If the image is created by the authors, enter the journal name as Source, the author name as Copyright holder, the JMIR article URL (or just the journal homepage) as URL, and select the Creative Commons Attribution (cc-by) as License. As "Description" enter a short caption or image title. A description such as "TOC image" or "Feature image" or "Untitled" is not valid.
- If an author-created image featuring a person shows identifiable features of the model (ie, the model's face, tattoos, etc), then we require the authors to obtain and provide permission from the model for their image to be published. If the model is under 18, then permission should be given by their legal guardian.
- Unless an existing figure or Multimedia Appendix capture from your own manuscript is chosen, make sure that the description contains the image source and copyright/license information, e.g. something like "Image Source: Wikicommons, Copyright: John Smith, URL: ....; licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0".
- If authors purchased the image from a stock photo agency, please specify something like "Copyright (copyright holder), Source: (agency), License: (licensed by the authors)", and upload the purchase receipt/license as supplementary file so JMIR has this on file for possible copyright disputes.
- JMIR staff will monitor possible copyright violations. When in doubt where an image comes from, use tineye to check the origin of the photo. Anything that is licensed under Creative Commons can be used (all licenses, including "non-commercial"), but cite the author/copyright holder and origin. Creative Commons is a license, the copyright holder still holds the (c) and needs to be mentioned (="attribution", e.g. "Image Source: FLickR (URL), copyright by X. Smith, license under cc-by 4.0"). See also What is a "Creative Commons License"?. Anything that is in the Public Domain (CC0) can be used but make sure it is really in the Public Domain (if a picture is found on Wikimedia Commons and it says it is Public Domain or CC0, then we can use it). US government institutions often publish into the public domain.
- Screenshots of software products, websites etc (including Youtube screenshots etc) are usually covered under the Fair Dealings exception of the copyright law, i.e. authors can use it even if they do not own the copyright or have a license, but you still need to provide the full source and the screenshot must relate to the content of the article. Do not use the screenshot if there is proprietary / private information on it (black out usernames etc)
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AI-generated images e.g. from DALL-E, Stable Diffusion cannot be copyrighted (see Reuters article), so there is no risk to violate copyright, but disclosure of the generation method in the image description field is required. Please indicate that the image is in the public domain (CC0) and describe how the image was generated (for more on AI tools see How to find a good TOC image).
[Note: ForJMIR XR and Spatial Computing, authors should not submit AI-generated images for the Table of Contents image. see https://support.jmir.org/hc/en-us/articles/115001352988-Where-to-find-and-how-to-generate-a-TOC-image and https://xr.jmir.org/author-information/instructions-for-authors]
See figure below on our suggestion how the metadata fields for AI-generated images should be populated. The source/source image URL links to a public landing site which can typically be generated through the SHARE button on the app, e.g. https://labs.openai.com/s/GXp12yQLynbHxc4jLGoY2Ong
A figure from the JMIR article can also be used for the TOC image. In that case, we assume it is created by the author and licensed under our standard license (cc-by). You do not have to add this information to the figure caption. Please enter proofreading comment or file a ticket with prod-support@jmir.org if you want to use an existing figure or if you want the JMIR production editor to identify a TOC image.
Note that the image description and the copyright/license information will be displayed at the bottom of a TOC image if the user clicks on the magnifying glass of a TOC image (see screenshot below).
See also: