Publish with Confidence
Every illustration created on morphedra comes with a clear, plain-language license. Know exactly what you can do — before you submit.
"If you're using a morphedra illustration in a published paper, conference poster, thesis, or grant — you're covered. Add attribution and submit with confidence."
— morphedra Licensing Policy, plain-language summary
Three Clear License Tiers
Find your use case. If you're unsure, email us and we'll respond within 24 hours.
Publish freely — attribution required
Covered uses
- Peer-reviewed journal publications
- Conference presentations & posters
- Doctoral theses & dissertations
- Grant applications (NIH, Wellcome, ERC, etc.)
- University course materials & lectures
- Non-commercial educational websites
- Preprints (bioRxiv, medRxiv, SSRN, etc.)
- Lab meeting slides & internal research reports
Not covered
- Product or pharmaceutical advertising
- Commercial marketing materials
- Paid promotional media
- Investor decks for commercial ventures
What's required
Add "Figure created with morphedra (morphedra.com)" to your figure legend. That's it.
Universities, hospitals & NGOs
Covered uses
- University & hospital public-facing websites
- NGO and public health reports
- Government agency communications
- Institutional annual reports (non-commercial)
- Public science communication campaigns
- Internal staff training materials
- Patient education leaflets (non-commercial)
- All Academic Use cases above
Not covered
- Pharma or biotech commercial promotion
- Industry-sponsored conference booths
- Materials sold or licensed to third parties
What's required
Attribution required. For large-scale institutional deployment, notify us at support@morphedra.com — no approval needed, just helps us understand usage.
Marketing, advertising & commercial media
Covered uses
- Pharmaceutical & biotech marketing materials
- Product promotion & advertising campaigns
- Commercial conference & exhibition materials
- Investor presentations for commercial ventures
- Commercial websites & digital advertising
- Paid media, broadcast, and print advertising
- White-label or resale to third parties
What's required
A commercial license is required. These are available on our Corporate plan, or by written agreement for enterprise clients.
Attribution & License Letter
Copy the standard attribution string below into your figure legend. Some journals (including Cell Press and PLOS) require a license letter — download one for each illustration directly from your Illustrations Dashboard.
Standard attribution string
Figure created with morphedra (morphedra.com). Academic Use License.For morphedra disclosure in grant applications
Add to your methodology section: "Scientific illustrations were created using morphedra (morphedra.com)" This satisfies NIH, Wellcome, ERC, and most funder disclosure requirements.
Compatible with major publishers & funders
Common Questions
Yes. Our Academic Use License is accepted by all major publishers including Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, American Chemical Society (ACS), RSC, PLOS, and Cell Press. The academic/institutional license letter you download from this page can be submitted alongside your manuscript if the journal requests documentation of figure sources.
Grant bodies are increasingly asking applicants to disclose tool usage. We recommend adding a brief methodology note: 'Scientific illustrations were created using morphedra (morphedra.com).' This satisfies disclosure requirements and is consistent with emerging funder guidance.
Yes. You may crop, annotate, resize, and adapt illustrations under the Academic and Institutional licenses. Please do not remove or obscure attribution when modifying. For substantial alterations, note in your figure legend: 'Adapted from morphedra.'
Open access publication is fully covered under the Academic Use License. The CC-BY licence applied to your article does not transfer to the underlying morphedra illustration — attribution to morphedra must still appear in your figure legend.
Internal scientific or medical affairs documents (not used for external promotion) may qualify under Institutional Use. External-facing promotional materials — including scientific detail aids — require a Commercial License. If you're unsure, email us and we'll respond within 24 hours.
If the primary purpose of the material is to sell, promote, or earn revenue from a product, service, or investment, it is commercial use. Scientific communication that happens to appear on a company's public website (e.g., a pharma company's science blog) is a gray area — contact us and we'll advise.
Still unsure about your use case?
We respond to licensing questions within 24 hours. Our goal is to make scientific communication easier — not to create barriers. If your use case is legitimate, we'll find a way to support it.
Ask a Licensing QuestionReply within 24 hours • No legal jargon
This page provides a plain-language summary of morphedra's illustration licensing terms. The full legal terms are set out in our Terms of Service (Section 7). In case of conflict, the Terms of Service prevail. morphedra is a product of AN-MAYS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED. Last reviewed: July 5, 2026.