Open Access: Creative Commons Licensing

This guide introduces Open Access and Open Research. It includes information on open access publishing, methods of open research and how to meet funder open access/research requirements.

Creative Commons Licences

Applying a license to your work makes it clear how you allow others to share and reuse it, under the conditions you specify. Creative Commons have created a range of licenses you can apply to your work, with a range of reuse options. The list below shows the main licenses available.

To apply a license to your work, clearly state which licence is applied, along with a link to that licence. For example "© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY 4.0.” You can add the logo for that licence if desired.

Creative Commons Licences
License	Description
CC BY	The Attribution licence lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
CC BY-SA	The Attribution Share Alike license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. This license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
CC BY-NC	The Attribution Non-commercial license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
CC BY-NC-SA	The Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
CC BY-ND	The Attribution No Derivatives license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
CC BY-NC-ND	The Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.