Q: Is it possible to use figures and data from my previous research for subsequent studies?

Yes, you can. But this would depend on who holds the copyright for the paper, the journal or you. Therefore, it would depend on the type of journal your paper was published in: open access (OA), paywalled, or hybrid. If you retain the copyright, there is obviously no restriction. If the copyright transferred to the journal, you would need their permission – yes, even though you wrote the article. :-) To know the exact kind of license the journal operates with, you may read more about the different Creative Commons (CC) licenses here (English) and here (Korean).

However, you should be careful of not excessively citing your own papers. Otherwise, you run the risk of self-citation, which is the tendency of authors to frequently cite their own work in order to increase its citation count. Occasionally is fine, because your subsequent study can build on a previous study and also because you would probably be researching in the same field. However, too much would be unethical.

Finally, about quoting the figure, you would need to include the figure, whether the original figure or a modified version of it, based on the need of your present study. For captioning and citing it, the standard guidelines apply.

For the various points discussed above, you may find the following resources helpful:

• Do I need permission from the journal for citing a figure or diagram for my review article?
• When citing a figure, can I remove the unnecessary part?
• Tips on effective use of tables and figures in research papers

All the best for all your subsequent studies! :-)