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Publication Services

This Guide provides an overview of the publication services offered by the Health Sciences Library.

BioRender

What is BioRender?

BioRender is an online application used to create or edit scientific illustrations, diagrams, or other graphics. License-holders can use or modify existing BioRender templates or create diagrams from scratch for posters, presentations, journal papers, websites, exams, and more. A library of over 50,000 ready-made icons simplifies the creation of images for almost any field of science.

BioRender plans

BioRender is available in two plans:

Basic

  • Available for free directly from BioRender
  • Create up to 5 illustrations for educational purposes
  • Lower resolution export of images

Premium

  • Requires a license, such as the Academic License
  • Unlimited illustrations that can be used for publication purposes, e.g. in journals
  • Higher resolution export of images
  • Access to a all templates and icons

See here for more information about BioRender's plans.

Using BioRender through the Health Sciences Library

Non-research WCM-Q faculty and staff can apply for a temporary Academic License from the Health Sciences Library.

The license:

  • Is available to non-research staff or faculty
  • Can be used by only one person - multiple users cannot "share" a temporary license
  • Includes all the extra benefits of a Premium plan
  • Will lapse if it is inactive for six months
  • Can be renewed at a later date
  • Has the option for receiving assistance from the Library's Visual Design Specialist in the use of BioRender and in designing graphics

Apply here: Temporary BioRender Academic License Application Form

Notes

WCM-Q policies

All figures and illustrations created with BioRender should conform to WCM-Q's data policies and other applicable policies, and be HIPAA compliant.

BioRender Terms of use

BioRender has strict terms of use associated with the Academic License, to which users must agree. In summary:

  1. Users may use images created with BioRender for the following purposes:
  • Posters solely for academic or educational use
  • Unpublished theses or dissertations
  • Use in internal academic lab or team meetings
  • Presentations that are solely for academic or educational purposes or personal use cases
  • Assignments or exams
  • Teaching slides
  • Personal blogs and website posts
  • Personal social media posts posted by you on our Website
  • Journal publications
  • Textbook publications (with limitations)
  • Published theses (with limitations)
  1. Users must cite figures with the appropriate credit adjacent to the figure or in the audiovisual production credits:
    Kind of figure or illustration Citation language
    Original figures created without using a BioRender template "Created with BioRender.com.”
    Figures created by adapting a BioRender template "Adapted from “FullTemplateName”, by BioRender.com (CurrentYear). Retrieved from https://app.biorender.com/biorender-templates"
    Re-using a BioRender template without adaptation "Reprinted from “FullTemplateName”, by BioRender.com (CurrentYear). Retrieved from https://app.biorender.com/biorender-templates"