In the recent updates to the Gartner Copyright & Quote Policy, we made it easier for clients to quote from published Magic Quadrants, and harder on those who quote from not-yet-published Magic Quadrants, as well as other branded research documents.
What are the changes?
There is no more 24-hour embargo for Magic Quadrant documents. If you want to mention inclusion or refer to a Magic Quadrant in social media, you do not need to come to Gartner for pre-approval, as long as you comply with the policy. Submit all other mentions and quotes via the standard quote-request process, and they will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Note: The Quote Requests embargo lift has no impact on Reprints’ delivery turnaround time. Please continue to factor in 48 hours when preparing to promote a licensed reprint.
Effective Sept. 1, 2014: If you distribute externally any draft content from any Magic Quadrant, Critical Capabilities or Market Guide document, even if it’s to only one other person, we will impose an immediate, 3-month quote ban that will apply to you and your employer.
Why make it easier?
The 24-hour embargo on quoting from Magic Quadrant research was imposed a couple of years ago to create a level playing field among vendors that wanted to highlight their inclusion in the document and link to reprints they had purchased. A lot has happened in those two years, with developments in social media as well as delivery of more traditional media types (for example, press releases). In keeping with these developments, the time was right for us to lift embargos on MQ research.
Why make it harder?
The Gartner research process involves rigorous peer review and collaboration, sometimes up until the point of publication. This means that Gartner positions can change dramatically up until the time a document publishes (including big movement of vendor “dots” in Magic Quadrants). And it’s why pre-release content of Magic Quadrants, Critical Capabilities and Market Guides, sent to vendors strictly for fact review, may not be shared with anyone outside of a small, authorized group. Sharing any of these materials outside of this group can lead to inaccurate, incomplete or conflicting content in the marketplace, and is also just plain unfair to those who play by the rules, including Gartner. This is documented in Section 6.4 of the Copyright & Quote Policy.