Licensing Code and Protocols #

Licensing is a critical part of sharing both protocols and code. It defines how others can reuse, modify, and distribute your work. ICArEHB researchers are encouraged to use open licenses that align with the principles of Open Science.

Common licenses for sharing code and protocols include:

Creative Commons (CC-BY, CC0)

For protocols, CC-BY (attribution) allows others to use and adapt the protocol as long as they give credit to the original author. CC0 places the protocol in the public domain, allowing anyone to use it without restrictions.

MIT License (for code) A permissive open-source license that allows others to use, copy, modify, and distribute the code. It is minimal in restrictions, making it one of the most widely used open-source licenses.

GNU General Public License (GPL) The GPL ensures that any derivative works created using your code must also be open and licensed under the same terms. This ensures that any improvements or modifications remain open to the community.

Apache License 2.0 A permissive license that allows for reuse and modification of the code, while requiring that original copyrights and disclaimers are maintained in derivative works.