COPYRIGHT ISSUES

Referencing material
on this site



Deborah Houlding



Respect the copyright
The demoralising consequences of plagiarism has had a very negative effect on this site, to the extent that I abaondoned the development of the site for several years, after the problem of dealing with plagiarism and an overload of spam emails and requests for free research information became overwhelming. Problems included many people making almost wholesale reproduction of Skyscript articles, as they appear on this site, but without reference to the name of the author; astrologers claiming authorship over thinly disguised or poorly edited material that is clearly taken from this site; and the unauthorised reproduction of illustrations, tables, diagrams, and tutorials, that are shared here but still under copyright of the creators who worked hard to produce them. As a result of past-problems I now take a firm stance on plagiarism - to understand what constitutes plagiarism, refer to 'Avoiding Plagiarism' by the Concordia University website.

There are many cases where permission has been granted for reproduction of Skyscript content. In these an acknowledgement, link, and notice stating that approval has been granted will be clearly visible. If you have reason to believe this may not be the case in any work that you have seen, please get in touch.

To clarify: I do want to help and encourage astrologers to make good use of the material from this site for the sake of study and education. If you feel the use of a quote or diagram may help with a non-commercial presentation, send an email and request permission; reasonable requests are seldom refused.
Making reference to articles on this site
The correct format for making reference to articles on this (or any other) website is as follows:
Author(s). "title of article", title of website, date of Posting/Revision; name of any organisation or institution affiliated with the site if applicable, (date of access) <the web address of the article>.
For example, a reference to the article Questioning our Horaries by Deborah Houlding, in a printed publication, would read:
Houlding, Deborah. "Questioning our Horaries", Skyscript, 2003; () <www.skyscript.co.uk/horary_questions.html>.
If the date of publication is not available, the date of access should suffice. Dates are less necessary for internet links of a casual nature, but are required in academic articles since websites may update their information and you need to reference what was made available to you at that particular time.

In an article produced online, it is good manners to turn the reference into an active link, either with or without the link details being hard-coded alongside:
Houlding, Deborah. Questioning our Horaries, Skyscript, 2003; ().
This follows the standard protocol for providing credible references. Further information on documenting and referencing sources can be found at the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

NB: Editors of even credible astrological journals have published extracts from articles on this site where the reference only points to the Skyscript home page. This is not acceptable since Skyscript has hundreds of pages. Failing to give the URL of the page where the referenced article can be found is like giving details of a publisher but not the publication concerned (especially lamentable in the cases where the author's name has been omitted too!). Please don't abuse the rights of authors who generously allow their work to be produced on this site. The web has a great potential as a medium for sharing knowledge and helping us all to help each other, but that prospect will suffer unless online publications are treated with respect and valued as a credible source of information.
Seeking permission for reproducing articles and images
All rights on all text and images are reserved; which means that nothing may be reproduced without permission. If good reason is demonstrated for the need to reproduce work elsewhere it will usually be given.

All authors that contribute material to this site retain their own copyright. You must therefore contact the author involved to gain permission for reproduction. Please be aware however, that many of the diagrams that accompany other people's works have been originated by me, and there may be accompanying tables or notes that I have created in the presentation of their work. If you wish to make use of these, you must contact me for permission.

As far as I am concerned, good reasons for wishing to reproduce my work include translations and the incorporation of material within a certain framework where it serves a particularly useful function. There is little purpose to be served in reproducing the material just for the sake of having it elsewhere on the web. If you believe that the information is valuable, then you should consider creating a link.

(I don't recall ever refusing permission - where I have been able to give it - to the credible astrologers who have taken the time and trouble to contact me with a legitimate request in the appropriate manner).
Seeking permission for reproducing articles and images
All rights on all text and images are reserved; which means that nothing may be reproduced without permission. If good reason is demonstrated for the need to reproduce work elsewhere it will usually be given.

All authors that contribute material to this site retain their own copyright. You must therefore contact the author involved to gain permission for reproduction. Please be aware however, that many of the diagrams that accompany other people's works have been originated by me, and there may be accompanying tables or notes that I have created in the presentation of their work. If you wish to make use of these, you must contact me for permission.

As far as I am concerned, good reasons for wishing to reproduce my work include translations and the incorporation of material within a certain framework where it serves a particularly useful function. There is little purpose to be served in reproducing the material just for the sake of having it elsewhere on the web. If you believe that the information is valuable, then you should consider creating a link.

(I don't recall ever refusing permission - where I have been able to give it - to the credible astrologers who have taken the time and trouble to contact me with a legitimate request in the appropriate manner).
Concerned about material on this site?
I am always careful to ensure that any necessary permissions are sought and any due acknowledgement is given with all of the material presented on this site. Nonetheless, it may be the case that some historical components used on the site are erroneously presumed to be in the public domain. If anyone has any cause for complaint, either involving copyright issues or material they feel is in any other way offensive, I shall take the complaint seriously and give it my immediate attention to make sure that any genuininely offending material is swiftly removed. Please contact me through the contact link at the foot of the page.


Deborah Houlding
August 2004 (updated 2022)
graphic embellishment