key: cord-0070353-u0gi2ddc
authors: Yelamanchi, Raghav; Gupta, Nikhil; Goswami, Binita; Durga, C. K.
title: The Basics of Research Article Licensing
date: 2021-11-21
journal: Indian J Surg
DOI: 10.1007/s12262-021-03166-6
sha: b242e9e9498036dd2260e42b2f39a45c35129352
doc_id: 70353
cord_uid: u0gi2ddc

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This licensing allows the free distribution and usage of data across the world without any restrictions and attributions. CC-BY (Attribution): This license allows usage and distribution of data, modifications, and making new derivatives from previously published articles after giving credits to the original authors of the article as specified by them. This is one of the most commonly used licensing agreements in daily practice by open access journals.

This license allows researchers to distribute and use data from the original source in the native or altered form provided it is distributed free of cost for non-commercial purposes. Any profit making is strictly prohibited. Other combinations such as CC-BY NC SA and CC-BY NC ND are also used for various purposes.

There is nothing like a best licensing agreement. The license used depends on the situation and context. Even though most open access journals use CC-BY, some articles with photographs and related content are licensed under CC-BY NC to prevent other publishers from printing the original data. Pandemics like the COVID-19 require research articles related to the pandemic to be published under the public domain to make them freely accessible to the entire population and unrestricted distribution to combat the health emergency. Articles related to public health emergency are also indexed free of cost in databases like PubMed during the pandemic which is appreciable. To conclude, researchers should be aware and vigilant while signing the licensing agreement with the journals in order to prevent misuse of their original works as well as to avoid unnecessary litigations. The authors should note that all authors from the countries which signed the Berne convention retain at least their moral rights for a minimum period of 50 years after their death [1] .

Warm Regards,

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The authors declare no competing interests.