I am ready to publish my work, now what?

When you are ready to publish your work (an article or a book for example) you sign a publishing agreement transferring the economic rights to your work exclusively to the publisher. The publisher then sells your work to libraries, research institutes and private companies. Often the publishers license agreements stipulate that only you, as the creator, can make copies of your work, not libraries and research institutes.

Creative Commons licenses are a way to help you spread your research more easily by giving you the possibility to choose how to license your work. Choosing a publisher who agrees with your way of licensing your work might make all the difference for you and give others the chance to access your research findings no matter where they are from, what their background is or what resources they have.

So, what are Creative Commons licenses? (1:57):

Read more about Creative Commons, and what the different licenses mean for research publications on the National Library of Sweden's website.

Source: "Creative Commons for researchers" by the National Library of Sweden. CC BY 4.0.