Copyright Permissions

Because the NLN receives copyright permission requests for various uses, different kinds of information are needed to process them. Please note the following general types of copyright requests below and their specific requirements. In most instances, the NLN seeks to review requests for permission within four weeks to six weeks of receipt, once all information required has been submitted.  

NLN Books/Wolters Kluwer Publications

In 2012, the NLN teamed with Wolters Kluwer to be the exclusive distributor of NLN Books.

I.  If you wish to use extensive quotes, figures, tables, or other material from any NLN Book with a publication date of 2012 until current year, please request permission to use any material from these books by going to the Wolters Kluwer website and submitting the requested information.  

II. If you wish to use extensive quotes, figures, tables, or other material from any NLN Books with a publication date prior to 2012 for which the NLN holds copyright, you must obtain written permission to do so.

  • Requests to use material from NLN publications in academic courses typically are approved with no fees.
  • Requests to use such material in books that will be sold through an organization or publisher typically are approved upon payment of a fee; the amount of the fee depends on the extensiveness of the NLN material to be reproduced.

To request copyright permission for publications prior to 2012, please submit an email to copyrightpermission@nln.org.

Your request must include the following information:
1) Complete citation for the original work in which the quote, figure, table, etc. appears
2) The exact material you wish to use and the page number(s) on which that material appears (e.g., Table 1, Issues in Nursing Education, page 12);
3) Intended use of the requested material (e.g., doctoral dissertation, publication, presentation):
a) If the intended use is by a student as part of the student’s course of study, include the specific course or program requirement (e.g., NUR 401 or doctoral dissertation); b) If the intended use is for inclusion within a journal article for submission, state the intended journal or journals with as much clarity as possible; c) If the intended use is for inclusion within another publication, state the title of the publication, author/editor, planned publication date, and publisher; d) If the intended use is for an academic course, include the name and number of the academic course, the term(s) in which the course(s) will be taught, and the name of the course faculty. (Permissions for academic courses are typically given for one year only.); e) If the intended use is none of the above, provide as much information as necessary to clearly describe the intended use of the material (e.g., where it will be used, time frame for use, user profile.) 

NLN/Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Books

Any NLN/JBL books that are available through Jones & Bartlett Learning that have a publication date of 1998 or later are the copyright property of Jones & Bartlett Learning, and copyright permission to use material from those books must be obtained from JBL. Instructions are available here.

Any NLN/JBL books that are available through Jones & Bartlett Learning and have a publication date prior to 1998 are the copyrighted property of the National League for Nursing. You are asked to follow the procedure outlined above for NLN Books and Publications when requesting copyright permission.

Nursing Education Perspectives, the Research Journal of the NLN

Please note that Nursing Education Perspectives was formerly known as Nursing and Health Care Perspectives, N&HC: Perspectives on the Community, and Nursing and Health Care. All titles are the copyright property of the National League for Nursing, but permissions are granted through Wolters Kluwer Health.

NLN Surveys & Research Instruments

The NLN's copyrighted surveys and research instruments are an important part of its research activities.

Permission for non-commercial use of surveys and research instruments (includes, theses, dissertations, and DNP projects) is granted free of charge.  Available instruments may be downloaded and used by individual researchers for non-commercial use only with the retention of the NLN copyright notice (e.g., ©Copyright, National League for Nursing, 2022). The researcher does not need to contact the NLN for specific permission.  In granting permission for non-commercial use, it is understood that the following caveats will be respected by the researcher:

  1. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to determine whether the NLN research instrument is appropriate to her or his particular study.
  2. Modifications to a survey/instrument may affect the reliability and/or validity of results. Any modifications made to a survey/instrument are the sole responsibility of the researcher.
  3. When published or printed, any research findings produced using an NLN survey/instrument must be properly cited. If the content of the NLN survey/instrument was modified in any way, this must also be clearly indicated in the text, footnotes and endnotes of all materials where findings are published or printed.

Permission for commercial use of NLN surveys and research instruments must be obtained from the NLN. Commercial use includes publishing in journals, books, or inclusion in any product that is sold. Please submit a written request to copyrightpermission@nln.org . Your request must include as much information as necessary to clearly describe the i ntended use of the NLN survey/instrument, including the time frame for use and intended audience. 

NLN Core Competencies for Academic Nurse Educators 


Requests to use the NLN Core Competencies for Academic Nurse Educators may be granted free of charge to students and academic institutions.  

  • Each competency has multiple correlating “task statements.”  Copyright permission to use the task statements can be granted to students and academic institutions without charge, for academic use only.  Copyright permission to use the task statements for commercial use WILL NOT BE GRANTED
  • For copyright permission requests related to use of the NLN Academic Nurse Educator Competencies, please submit a written request to copyrightpermission@nln.org . Your request must include as much information as necessary to clearly describe the intended use of the core competencies, including the time frame for use and intended audience. 
  • Core Competencies reference citation: Christensen, L.S., and Simmons, L.E. (Eds.) (2020). The scope of practice for academic nurse educators and academic clinical nurse educators, 3rd edition. National League for Nursing.

NLN Certification Test Plans for Nurse Educators


  • The NLN will allow requestors to link to the NLN’s CNE, CNEn and CNEcl Exam Test Blueprints as included in Candidate Handbooks available on the NLN website; There is no need to submit a written request to include a link within course materials
  • Permission WILL NOT BE GRANTED to otherwise copy or distribute the test blueprints in any other manner or method.  This specifically precludes the print or electronic distribution of the test plans.
  • For any other permission request related to the NLN's CNE materials, please submit an email to copyrightpermission@nln.org .