Citing OER resources varies based on the type of resource (ie. images, textbooks, sound, etc.) The CC attribution guide is a good starting point for writing appropriate citations. In general, the suggested citation format is:
[Title] by [Author], used under [CC License].
You should also consider including the name of the website or source a work came from. Lastly, you should include links to the work itself, the CC license used, and the author and/or source site if possible.
In addition, consider how much of the work you are using when you cite it. For example, if you are citing an entire OER textbook, the citation style suggested above would work well. However, if you are only using an image from that textbook, you should consider adding information about the chapter the image came from.
When using OER images, you may decide to adapt the image. This can be something small, like cropping the image slightly, to something that substantially changes the image, like photoshopping elements or color grading. In this case, your citation should also include information about the adaptations you made. For smaller adaptations, a citation could be formatted as:
[Title] by [Author], used under [CC License]. / Cropped from original.
For adaptations that significantly alter the original work, a citation could be formatted as:
[New title] is adapted from [original title] by [original author], used under [CC License]. [New title] is licensed under [CC license] by [your name here].
Copyright applies to all intellectual property, and OER is no exception. However, many OER creators use Creative Commons licenses, which are designed to work with copyright law and help users create, distribute, use, and adapt OER legally. The different Creative Commons licenses vary based on how OER creators would like users to cite, use, and adapt their OER works.
The six types of Creative Commons licenses are explained below. You can find more information about these licenses on the Creative Commons' website, as well as on their Frequently Asked Questions page.
This 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. The license allows for commercial use.
CC BY includes the following elements:
This 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. The 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-SA includes the following elements:
This 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 includes the following elements:
This 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-NC-SA includes the following elements:
This 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-ND includes the following elements:
This 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.
CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
While using open educational resources, you should also consider whether or not your use of the material falls into fair use. Fair use allows users to use copyrighted material without notifying or receiving permission from the copyright owner. Our Copyright Reference Guide: Fair Use is a useful starting point for learning about more fair use and its criteria.
In general, you should consider the following four fair use factors when deciding if your use of OER falls under fair use:
American University also has resources on Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources, which can help address further questions about how fair use applies to open educational resources.
Public domain works are works that are no longer protected by copyright, and are thus free to use without obtaining permission from the copyright owner. More information about the public domain and what works fall into it are available in the Copyright Reference Guide: Public Domain.
Most OER works are not in the public domain (though some OER creators choose to give up their copyright and place their works in the public domain). However, public domain works are useful resources that you can use to create and adapt OER. Although it can be difficult to identify what works are in the public domain, there are some useful resources for finding and identifying them:
Where can you find images, sound, music, and text for creating OER works? A wide variety of resources host public domain and open access content that you can copy, remix, and publish for OER purposes. A list of resources, the content they host, and their licensing permissions are included below.
Note: This graphic was created by the University of Minnesota Libraries.
