Publication & Access

01 What we publish

Each published SciTube video receives its own page within the SciTube platform, presenting the completed animation and information about the research it communicates.

A standard publication normally includes:

• The completed research animation or video.
• A dedicated publication page and publication date.
• The names of contributing researchers and their institutional affiliations.
• A unique SciTube Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
• A reference and link to the original research, including its DOI where available.
• Relevant research funders and project acknowledgements where provided.
• Inclusion in a relevant SciTube Special Edition, where applicable.

SciTube primarily communicates peer-reviewed research, but may also work with accepted manuscripts or active research projects by agreement.

SciTube is not an academic journal and does not independently peer review the underlying research. Our role is to communicate it accurately and responsibly.

02 Free public access

Published SciTube research animations are freely accessible online. There is no paywall, subscription or registration requirement to watch them.

This allows researchers, students, educators, policymakers, practitioners and members of the public to explore scientific ideas without needing institutional access.

The original scholarly paper may have separate access conditions set by its publisher. SciTube provides an accessible explanation and a route to that source publication.

03 Digital Object Identifiers & citation

Each standard published SciTube research video is registered with Crossref and assigned its own Digital Object Identifier, or DOI.

The DOI provides a persistent reference to the SciTube publication and can be used in citations, research profiles, CVs, teaching resources, institutional records and reports where accepted.

Where the animation is based on a published scholarly paper, we also reference the original article and its DOI where available.

The video DOI identifies a separate communication output. It does not represent journal peer review or replace the original paper.

For referencing examples, visit our How to Cite page.

04 Researcher review & approval

Our scientific editorial team develops the script and visual explanation from the source research and supporting material supplied by the author.

Researchers are invited to review the script, storyboards where applicable, and completed video, helping us preserve the scientific meaning, findings and context.

We do not publish a commissioned animation without the researcher's final approval.

We can also accommodate relevant institutional review and agreed publication embargoes.

More information is available in our Editorial Standards .

05 SciTube Special Editions

Published research animations may also be included within relevant annual SciTube Special Editions.

These collections bring together related research around a shared scientific or societal theme, creating another opportunity for people to discover the work.

Animations are published individually as they are completed. Special Editions remain open during their publication cycle and receive additional collective promotion when an edition is completed or its annual cycle ends.

Each animation retains its own publication page and DOI. Its Special Edition placement provides an additional route to discovery.

06 Dissemination & wider audiences

Making research publicly available is important, but people also need opportunities to discover it.

SciTube actively shares published videos through its established channels and relevant platforms, including its website, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Facebook and Bluesky.

The channels and activity used for an individual publication may vary according to the research and intended audience.

Our aim is to help scientific work reach people within and outside academia, including potential collaborators, practitioners, educators, policymakers and interested public audiences.

Available views and engagement figures can help document dissemination for institutional reporting and research communication activity.

We do not guarantee particular viewing figures, citations, collaborations or other research outcomes.

07 Using & reusing your animation

Commissioning researchers and organisations can reuse their completed SciTube video for a wide range of activities, subject to the agreed project terms and any relevant third-party licences.

Common uses include:

• University, laboratory and project websites.
• Conferences, lectures, presentations and research exhibitions.
• Teaching, training and public engagement.
• Grant reports, impact reporting and funding applications.
• Professional communication, social media and institutional promotion.
• Commercial or professional activities permitted under the project agreement.

Your own usage rights are determined by your project agreement. They are not restricted simply because the public SciTube publication uses a non-commercial Creative Commons licence.

Any separately licensed music, stock footage, images or other third-party materials remain subject to their own licence terms.

08 Licensing & third-party sharing

SciTube research publications are normally made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence, to the extent the relevant rights permit.

This allows others to share and reuse appropriately licensed material for non-commercial purposes, provided the licence conditions, including attribution, are followed.

Third-party assets included in a video may be governed by separate permissions. A Creative Commons licence does not automatically extend to material for which those rights cannot be granted.

This arrangement supports educational and non-commercial sharing while preserving the distinction between public reuse and the broader rights held by the commissioning researcher or organisation.

You can read the full licence at Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 .

09 Accessibility & continued access

We aim to make research communication understandable and accessible to people beyond specialist academic audiences.

Our standard videos include clear narration and captions, while publication pages provide useful information about the original research.

Additional language, accessibility or technical requirements can be discussed before production. Available features may vary by project.

We intend to maintain published research animations within the SciTube Library and relevant Special Edition archives. Their DOIs provide persistent identifiers that support continued discovery and citation.

If a material error is identified, or the underlying research is corrected, withdrawn or retracted, we may review, correct, annotate, update or remove the affected publication as appropriate.

Our approach to research accuracy and corrections is explained in our Editorial Standards .

10 Further information

Publication and dissemination are included with standard SciTube commissioned videos. If you prefer production only, without public SciTube publication, this can be arranged before work begins.

Production-only arrangements do not include the standard public SciTube publication or associated DOI.

For questions about publication, licensing, access, institutional use or DOI registration, please contact info@sciencediffusion.com .

Our commercial arrangements are covered by the SciTube Terms of Service .