Cambridge University Press has announced today that articles in its Open Access journals can be published with a Creative Commons Attribution licence (‘CC-BY‘). This licence allows users and readers to download, read, re-use and re-distribute freely, as long as they acknowledge the original article.
Following the recommendations of the Finch report, research funders (such as RCUK and the Wellcome Trust) increasingly require papers to be made available in open access publications. Cambridge University Press’ adoption of CC-BY licencing allows authors to meet this specification.
Authors publishing Open Access papers in hybrid journals will have the option of a CC-BY licence, but will also be offered a choice of other CC licences (including CC-BY-NC-SA ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ and CC-BY-NC-ND ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives’). This option is also extended to full Open Access journals where the author’s funders or institutional policies do not restrict author’s to CC-BY use.
The choice offered will allow authors to select the most suitable licence for their circumstances, depending on requirements of their governments, institutions, funders or other parties.
Simon Ross, Managing Director of Cambridge Journals said:
“We are keen to offer our authors a range of options for their publishing needs. By using the CC-BY licence for OA articles our authors will be able to comply with the updated policies of funders such as the Wellcome Trust. But this is an environment in flux and a ‘one-size fits all’ solution is contentious in the global markets and disciplines in which we participate. Authors have requested other CC licences and we feel it is appropriate to offer choice and flexibility. Additionally, our long-standing Green archiving policy offers an existing alternative route to maximising access and dissemination of our publications.”
Cambridge Journals publishes five wholly Open Access journals and over 150 hybrid journals. Details can be found here.
View the full Press Release and find out more about Cambridge Journals and Open Access here.