Understanding open access

Creative commons licences enable less restrictive use of creative works than traditional, all-rights-reserved copyright. Authors reserve some rights, but depending on the license, allow users to share, use and build upon the work they've created.

Academic funders and creative commons licences

Open access publishing is now a requirement of most academic funders. Creative commons licences are often mandated as part of research funders open access policies.

Most funders will request:

• Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licences, or will allow
• A licence exception, usually the Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivatives (CC-BY-ND).

For further information on research funders licence requirements please see the Research Funders Open Access Policies guide.