Can I use images from my published papers in my thesis without copyright infringment?

You will have to read the copyright transfer form that YOU have signed. Sometimes, there are several options on whether you keep the right to reuse your work. In my personal experience, you often have some limitations on how you can reuse your material. Sometimes, you will have to place a reference on where this paper has been published first.

However, this entirely depends on what you have signed.


For my thesis (7 years ago), I used many of my own figures from various journals. For each journal, I had to go to their website and fill in a web form (and/or send them an e-mail), asking for permission to use each specific figure. On the web form, there were various options regarding what you wanted to re-use the figure for, one of them was usually thesis/dissertation. The journal reviewed each request. All of mine were approved. They sent me a letter giving me permission to used that specific image in my thesis. I was required to add a note to the bottom of the caption saying something like "Reprinted with permission from [FULL CITATION]. Copyright [PUBLICATION YEAR], [JOURNAL]". This may be similar or completely different depending on where you've published. Check with your journals.