Copying documents

You can copy much of the material in our archives and special collections. However, in some cases, documents are too fragile to copy.

You can photocopy documents unless they are bound volumes, fragile or above A3 size. We have a digital scanner which will copy up to A4 size.
Due to copyright constraints only one copy of each document or up to a chapter or 10% of published books can be copied.
A Copyright & Citation Declaration form must be completed and signed (by the person who is receiving the copies) and payment must be made in advance. You must make a note of the reference of the document you intend to cite from or copy, as the archivist is not able to supply these once you have left the reading room.
For Reading Room users, black and white copies are charged at 30p per sheet and digital scans (if the document is not too fragile or large) at £5 each.
It is usually not possible to copy documents while you wait. We will post your copies on to you.
If you’re not able to visit yourself, you can order photocopies via our online store. Please call us on +44 (0)1784 443814 or email archives@rhul.ac.uk for instructions.
If you want to bring in your own digital camera, please let us know in advance and read our policy and safe handling guidelines.

If you want to publish any material you have photocopied from our archives e.g. on websites or in publications, please apply in writing to our Archivist.
Our Archivist will refer your request to other copyright holders as necessary.
General acknowledgements for permission to use material from our archives should be made to Archives, Royal Holloway, University of London in the first reference and RHUL Archives thereafter.
Footnotes should include reference to the College and employ references in use in the Archives e.g RHUL Archives, BC GB/150/5/1.
We will charge a reproduction fee if you’re publishing material from our archives for commercial purposes. We do not usually charge for the use of material in academic works.
If you’d like to donate a copy of the published work to our archives, please contact the Archivist beforehand.