Open Access Creative Commons licences for Cambridge Journals

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’s adoption of CC-BY licensing 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 authors 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.

Managing Director of Cambridge Journals Simon Ross 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.'

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About Cambridge Journals and Open Access

As a University Press, our mission is to work with our University and the wider academic community to advance knowledge, education, learning and research. In line with this, we fully support both Green and Gold open access models. 

Cambridge has had a Green policy for many years that allows authors to deposit a copy of their Accepted Manuscripts in any non-commercial repository, immediately on acceptance.  If they wish to deposit a copy of the published Version of Record, we ask that they respect a 12-month embargo from the date of first online publication.

Cambridge Journals publishes five fully Open Access journals and over 150 hybrid journals. 

Further details can be found here.

About Cambridge Journals

Cambridge University Press publishes over 330 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide spread of subject areas, in print and online. Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today.

Across the world, Cambridge Journals are available in print and online – keeping scientists, researchers, and scholars abreast of crucial developments in research.

For further information about Cambridge Journals, go to: http://journals.cambridge.org

About Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Dedicated to excellence, its purpose is to further the University's objective of advancing knowledge, education, learning, and research.

Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise 45,000 titles covering academic research, professional development, over 330 research journals, school-level education, English language teaching and bible publishing.

Playing a leading role in today’s international market place, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.