Publishing policies
PAHO believes that universal access to publicly funded research, including research data, is fundamental to tackling the public health challenges of the 21st century.
PAHO’s policy on open access seeks to ensure that, as a fundamental part of its mission, the published outputs of its activities are freely accessible and reusable by the public.
Since 6 December 2019, PAHO publications have been published under the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO license. This license allows for any non-commercial use, without the need to obtain permission from PAHO. Adaptations and translations are also permitted, as long as the adapted work is published under the same or a similar license. PAHO publications published prior to 2019 will not be reissued under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license; however, PAHO will continue to encourage their reuse for non-commercial educational and research purposes.
PAHO publications are accessible through the Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS). Requests to use PAHO publications for commercial purposes should be made using the permissions form.
PAHO supports open access to the published output of its activities as a fundamental part of its mission and a public benefit to be encouraged wherever possible.
PAHO’s open access applies to:
- all publications published by PAHO CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO;
- articles or chapters published in non-PAHO publications that are authored or co-authored by PAHO staff CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO;
- articles or chapters published in non-PAHO publications that are authored or co-authored by individuals or institutions funded in whole or in part by PAHO CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
While most of the content in PAHO publications is owned by PAHO, there may be materials that are credited to another published source. Permission will normally be required from the originating publisher to reproduce such materials. Please refer to the copyright notice in the publication concerned for complete information.
Permissions and licensing
Permission from PAHO is not required for the use of PAHO materials issued under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Intergovernmental Organization (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO) license.
It is important to note that:
• PAHO publications cannot be used to promote or endorse products, services or any specific organization.
• PAHO logo cannot be used without written authorization from PAHO.
• PAHO provides no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. In no event shall PAHO be liable for damages arising from the use of PAHO publications.
The CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license allows users to freely copy, reproduce, reprint, distribute, translate and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided PAHO is acknowledged as the source using the following suggested citation:
Pan American Health Organization. [Title]. [Place of publication]: PAHO; [Year]. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
The use of PAHO materials that are not available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license is subject to permission being granted by PAHO. Some of the uses of such materials are:
• reproduction and translation of figures, tables, maps, photos, etc.
• reprint and translation of complete works.
• licensing of materials or other technical information in electronic database products and services.
To request permission to use such materials, please complete the following permissions form.
Translations and adaptations
If you create an adaptation or a translation of a PAHO publication available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license, the following disclaimer should be included, as applicable:
For translations: “This translation was not created by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). PAHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original English edition Pan American Health Organization. [Title]. [Place of publication]: PAHO; [Year]. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.” shall be the only official edition”.
For adaptations: “This is an adaptation of an original work Pan American Health Organization. [Title]. [Place of publication]: PAHO; [Year]. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.”. This adaptation was not created by PAHO. PAHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this adaptation. The original edition shall be the only official edition”.
The adaptation or translation must be licensed under the same or similar license terms. Note that the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license can only be used by organizations established by a treaty or other instrument governed by international law and possessing its own international legal personality, and that are not subject to national laws, such as United Nations agencies, Intergovernmental organizations and International Organizations.
Similar licenses that could be used are the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license or the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Commercial uses
Permission is required for commercial uses and licensing of PAHO materials, such as using the material in the context of commercial activity. Requests can be made by completing the following permissions form.
For requesting permission to reproduce, reprint, or translate PAHO copyrighted material.
Before submitting a permission request to PAHO, it is important to ensure that the material you would like to use isn’t attributed/credited to a source other than PAHO, if this is the case then we request that you contact the publisher directly. In addition, for materials that are released under a Creative Commons license (see PAHO’s Open Access policy), subject to reuse being for non-commercial use only and outside of a commercial environment/context, then permission from PAHO is not required.
For all other cases, please ensure that all mandatory fields are completed and that you provide the maximum amount of detail concerning your request, including where relevant, a direct link to PAHO material that you are requesting permission for.
We would also draw your attention to the importance of thoroughly reading the Terms and conditions for using selected PAHO published materials before completing and submitting the form.