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Research Ethics and Intellectual Property Rights

Topic 5.7 of Research Ethics and Intellectual Property Rights

Open Source and Open Access Publishing

The licences that govern how software and research outputs can be used, shared, and built upon — from open-source software licences (MIT, GPL, Apache) to open-access publishing models (gold, green, diamond) and the preprint ecosystem.

~20 min total·4 quadrants of structured content

By the end of this topic, you will

Distinguish the key open-source licence types and explain what each allows and restricts
Explain the difference between gold, green, and diamond open access and the role of APCs
Describe how preprint servers fit into the research publication lifecycle
Apply Creative Commons licence terminology to a research dataset or software release

Quadrant 1 · e-Tutorial

Video lectures and walkthroughs

Video content coming soon.

Quadrant 2 · e-Content

Articles and case studies

research-methodology

Open Source and Open Access Publishing

Releasing code under the wrong licence, or publishing behind a paywall when your funder requires open access, are both avoidable mistakes. This article explains the licence landscape for software and research publications so you can make deliberate choices about how your work reaches the world.

12 min read

Quadrant 3 · Web Resources

Downloadable material and curated external links

Web resources coming soon.

Quadrant 4 · Self-Assessment

Test your knowledge — earn a certificate on first pass

Assessment coming soon.