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Creative Commons: CC and Open Access

The Publishers choice

The Creative Commons license system is often used in Open Access publishing.

Publishers use pre-defined CC licenses both when you publish via the Gold route (APC) in a journal, but they also often require that you use a specfic CC-license when you deposit a manuscript in a repository, and since Green open access must work in harmony with the pay-to-read (subscription) the  business models and subscriptions are important for the sustainability of many journals. Here the use of a non-commercial CC license is in place as an important safeguard for the publishers.

When a researcher publishes an article via a publishing house, he or she usually grants the publisher the legal exclusive right to publish the article via a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA). In copyright terminology, this means that the researcher transfers parts (or all) of their copyright to the publisher. Subsequently, the researcher is not allowed to publish the same article elsewhere.

It is important to always read publishing agreements carefully before signing, to be properly informed on which rights are affected and possibly transferred when publishing in order to choose the best possible CC-license, to open up your work as you wish.

 

Public access to publicly funded research

In Denmark the Ministry of Higher Education and Science has laid out an Open Access strategy with the vision that all publications with a ISSN, which in reality means journal articles and contributions to conference proceedings, must be Open Access by 2025.
The vision of the strategy is that all citizens, researchers and companies can access and benefit from free accessibility to Danish research.
Open Access will result in new and improved research opportunities, particularly within interdisciplinary research, and improved access to research-based knowledge for companies and others.

Roskilde University follows this strategic goal, and via Green Open Access the University Library helps to reach the goal of full Open Access to all research articles published by researchers affiliated to RUC.

#NotAllPublishers

Read the terms for using CC-licenses carefully before depositing manuscripts to a repository, not all allow for CC-licenses Take a look at Natures terms here as an example of this.

Furtermore, there are many requirements concerning embargo, acknowledgment to the articles Version of Record via DOI etc. These requirements are often subject to change, and differs from publisher to publisher.

You can always ask Roskilde University Library's Research Support team to help with the Publishers requirements. Contact rucforsk@kb.dk

Values of open practices and resources

Still in doubt of the values of Open practices?

Take a look at these core values and benefits of Open practices in connection to Open Access and Open resources.

  • Transparent processes for research, open access to data, and clear documentation of methodologies, all contributes to the credibility and reproducibility of work.
  • By removing barriers to access, such as cost or restrictive licensing, open practices ensure that people from diverse backgrounds can benefit from and contribute to shared resources. So Open practices ensures acccessibiblity.
  • Open practices foster collaboration by encouraging individuals and organizations to work together, share ideas, and build upon each other's contributions.

This stimulates:

Community Building,  the formation of communities contributes by providing support, feedback, and a platform for collaborative development.

Open practices often contribute to the sustainability of knowledge and resources by allowing them to evolve over time. Open source software, for example, can be continually improved by a community of developers, ensuring its longevity and relevance.

And Open practices stimulates innovation by providing a platform for experimentation, iteration, and the rapid dissemination of new ideas.

License

Creative commons | Mon Créative Commons | Lucas Ehlinger | Flickr

Except where otherwise noted (e.g. illustrations, videos and pictures), content on this site is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

CC-BY-NC-SA logo created by Lucas Ehlinger, https://www.flickr.com/photos/linxa/9059283431, CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0