Scientific publisher Nature Publishing Group (NPG), UK, has introduced the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license on its 19 NPG-owned academic journals. From December 2012, the CC BY license will be available to authors choosing open access publication options in these journals, in addition to the two non-commercial Creative Commons (CC) licenses currently on offer. This follows NPG's introduction of a CC BY license option on Scientific Reports in July 2012.
Effective April 1, 2013, Wellcome Trust and RCUK funders will require a CC BY license when they pay open access article processing charges (APCs). NPG intends to offer CC BY options on further open access and 'hybrid' journals over the next few months, in keeping with its commitment to author choice and meeting the needs of funders and the research community.
The journals introducing the CC BY license are: Blood Cancer Journal; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Cancer Gene Therapy; Genes and Immunity; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition; Gene Therapy; International Journal of Obesity; International Journal of Impotence Research; Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology; Journal of Human Hypertension; Journal of Perinatology; Leukemia; Molecular Psychiatry; Nutrition & Diabetes; Oncogene; Oncogenesis; Prostate Cancer; The Pharmacogenomics Journal; and Translational Psychiatry.
The CC BY license allows for articles to be distributed and amended, including for commercial opportunities. Papers can be developed upon, as long as attribution is given to the original work and its authors.
NPG publishes 60 journals that are open access or have an open access option. 58 of its 62 academic and society publications (94%) have introduced open access options or are open access journals.
