Inclusive Reading List Toolkit

Open Access (OA) is the "free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full-texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.”​​ (Suber, Peter. 2019)

An article or book that is published OA with a Creative Commons licence legally allows authors to freely distribute literature either by linking directly to the content or distributing the PDF to students. This means that you no longer have to wait for students to matriculate and gain access to the university library's resources.

• All students can access the resources online without any restrictions. 
• Under Creative Commons licences, the PDF can legally be shared as there are fewer copyright restrictions
• The resources are not subject to university subscriptions and therefore will be available in perpetuity
• Using Open Access literature allows you to access a wider range of material from a wider range of resources
• Recent studies have shown that few changes are made between pre-prints and the final peer-reviewed article; therefore you can add pre-prints to your reading lists that contains the latest research
• There is no need to purchase OA material; therefore, it can be added to your reading list without delay.
• Gray literature such as case studies and white papers are generally available Open Access.

Beware Academic Networking Sites

ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and SSRN - problematic as the first two require a log in to download papers. Many papers are illegally posted so there is a higher risk of breaching copyright. There is no guarantee that the papers will continue to be taken down as they can be removed or the platforms could institute paid membership.

Creative Commons (CC) licences are a great tool for creators to outline how they would like their work to be used and re-shared. It is important for researchers to also understand CC licences to ensure they are using the material within the parameters the creator intended.

The licences run from the most flexible CC0 to the more restrictive CC BY NC ND

CC0 - 'No Rights Reserved'

This licence states that the creator has waived all claims to copyright. By putting a CC0 licence on a work, the creator is putting the work in the public domain; therefore, a user can copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work, even for commercial purposes without needing permission. No attribution is required.

CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution 

The Creative Commons Attribution licence requires attribution be given to the creator, but users can copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work, even for commercial purposes without needing permission. Thereby, users can build upon the previous work as long as it is appropriately referenced.

CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike

This licence is similar to the CC BY licence above allowing users all the same rights as above (copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work, even for commercial purposes) as long as you attribute to the original creator. The addition of the Share Alike licence means if a user creates an adaptation (for example a translation of an article) then that adaptation must also be licenced under identical terms.

CC BY NC - Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial

This CC Attribution Non Commercial licence allows users to copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work as long as you attribute to the original creator. However, users do not have permission to use the material for commercial purposes. This includes marketing teams in universities even if you are working for a public institution. If you want to use the material for commercial purposes, you must seek permission from the copyright holder.

CC BY ND - Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives

This CC Attribution No Derivatives licence allows users to copy, distribute, and perform the work even for commercial purposes as long as you attribute to the original creator. However, users do not have permission to adapt the original work. If you want to adapt the material, you must seek permission from the copyright holder.

CC BY ND NC - Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives Non Commercial

This is the most restrictive CC licence - CC Attribution No Derivatives Non Commercial licence allows users to copy, distribute, and perform the work. However, users do not have permission to adapt the original work or use the work for commercial purposes. If you want to adapt the material or use it for commercial purposes, you must seek permission from the copyright holder.

We would like to acknowledge the work of University of Essex Library and Cultural Services team.