NPG supports Creative Commons

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has signed an ongoing agreement to support the work of Creative Commons (CC) through an annual donation. The donation will be equivalent to $20 for every article processing charge (APC) paid for publication in any of the 20 journals owned by NPG with an open-access option, up to a maximum of $100,000 a year.

'It's imperative that those who contribute true value in the communication of the results of research have their rights protected while promoting access as far as possible,' commented Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief of Nature and Nature Publishing Group. 'Creative Commons is a key contributor to that ethos, and I am delighted that we at Nature Publishing Group will be adding our support in this way.'

As of January 2011, NPG publishes 45 journals that have an open-access option, or are entirely open access. Twenty are wholly owned by the publisher, and it is these journals that the CC agreement will apply to. NPG is currently in discussion with its academic and society partners, and with their agreement expects to expand the programme to society-owned journals in the coming months.