Attributions: Giving Credit

Attributions vs. Citations

We’ve already discussed why giving credit is important. There are two primary ways of giving credit: attributions and citations. It can be confusing to know when to cite and when to attribute. The table below can help you decide.

Figure 4.5. Comparison of citations and attributions.

How to Create an Attribution

All images, text, and other content that you did not create (unless it is a short quote in quotation marks–see table above) should have an attribution that includes:

• • Title. Include the title when available. If no title is provided, use a description of the item (i.e., Photo) and link to the source.
  • Author. You’re required to attribute the copyright holder, as stated in the copyright statement (if there is one). This may be an organization or pseudonym. Sometimes creators request not to be attributed.
  • Source. It’s required to provide a hyperlink or URL to the source where you found the information (ideally the original source).
  • Licensing or copyright information.

Licensing and copyright information is sometimes legally required, and always helpful for people who are remixing your books in the future. Here are some types of licenses and copyright used in the project:

• A Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-ND 4.0, etc.).
• In the Public Domain.
• The Standard YouTube License or another custom license like Pexels, Pixabay, or Unsplash.
• All rights reserved copyright. Remember, this is the default if none of the above apply! When you absolutely need to use this material, your options are:
  • Included with permission.
  • Included under fair use.

Using the Open Attribution Builder to Generate a Basic Attribution

The Attribution Style Guide provides examples of how to attribute common types of content. The style is based on the WA Open Attribution Builder, which you can use to easily generate attributions for open content. When creating attributions for books, put the book chapter in Title field and the book title in the Project field.

Adding Specific Location Information

The Open Attribution Style Builder does not know what part of your book you’re talking about, so you have to add this information (usually a figure number or subsection title). For future users, it’s important to be clear what part of your work is built on an adapted work.

For example, the following attribution is copied directly from the Open Attribution Builder:

“Which Nationalities Consider Religion Most Important?” by Niall McCarthy, StatistaCharts is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Here is the same attribution with a figure number, which you would customize depending on where it’s placed in your book:

Figure 1.1. “Which Nationalities Consider Religion Most Important?” by Niall McCarthy, StatistaCharts is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Adding Modification Information

If you changed someone’s work (edited, shortened, expanded, etc.), note these adaptations or modifications at the end of your attribution.

Attributions and Citations Within Copied/Attributed Open Materials

Often the material you are copying will also have citations and attributions. What do you do about those?

Citations

Since the purpose of including citations is to bolster your credibility and avoid plagiarism, you generally will copy over citations/references from open works you use and update the style to match the rest of your book’s style. Sometimes references are out of date, and you can work with your librarian or ODC to find more current studies and data.

Attributions

Sometimes OER are remixed from many sources. It can be difficult to figure out which attributions in the source you’re using should be copied over. Attributions to relevant content should be copied over and formatted/numbered consistently with your other attributions. Sometimes, because not everyone provides detailed modification notes, it’s unclear if the specific content you’re using is remixed from a previous OER. You generally will want to avoid using content if you can’t tell where it came from originally. Some OER include figures under fair use without attributing them, but in this project all content included under fair use should include an attribution. If you’re not sure where a figure came from, ask a librarian or your ODC for help tracking it down.

Crediting Your Author Team

It’s up to your author team to decide who is listed as a chapter author, book author, etc. Your Licenses and Attributions box will contain both information about works you have borrowed (attributions)and information about who contributed original work to your chapter and the terms of its use (licensing statements). See “Help People Attribute You” in the Attributions Style Guide for examples of how to do this.

Choosing a License for Your Book

The default project license for original works is CC BY 4.0. Talk to the research consultant if you want to use another license or are using a lot of Sharealike  (SA) materials in your book. You will likely need to put chapters and original content where you use Sharealike materials under the same Sharealike license.

When What You Need Isn’t Open: Fair Use and Getting Permission

Your book should consist primarily of open materials or your own original work. In some cases, you may not be able to find or create an adequate substitute for a pedagogically important but All Rights Reserved resource. The Open Oregon FAQ on Fair Use calls out the four factors judges consider in fair use defenses against copyright infringement:

1. The purpose of the use (transformative, non-profit, and educational uses may be more allowable),
2. The nature of the work,
3. The amount taken,
4. The impact on the market for the original.

The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources provides examples of when educators might incorporate content under fair use. I highly recommend reading The Code if you plan to use fair use in your OER! It recommends educators be prepared to answer the following two questions when including content under fair use (Jacob et al., 2021, p. 28):

• Did the use “transform” the copyrighted material by using it for a purpose significantly different from that of the original, or did it do no more than provide consumers with a “substitute” for the original? 
• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of both the copyrighted work and the use?

Including content from an in-print commercial textbook (a substitute) might be more difficult to justify under fair use than including a historical photo or advertisement (more likely to be transformative).

Authors need to be prepared to explain “what the new function, purpose, or context of their use is, and why they are using the amount they are. This can be done formally, for instance by keeping notes, or informally” (Jacob et al., 2021, p. 28). While not required by the project, you can use a checklist like this one from Columbia University Libraries to document your fair use decision making process. Policies vary from institution to institution, and you can often get more fair use information from librarians.

It’s up to you, as the author, to make a fair use decision because you are in the best position to determine what is pedagogically necessary. If in doubt, work with your ODC and the Project Manager to seek permisson.  Find more strategies about what to do when you want to include All Rights Reserved resources.

It’s important note when content is included under fair use or with permission so downstream users understand it does not fall under a Creative Commons license. They must seek separate permissions or make their own fair use determinations. Use examples in the Attributions Style Guide to attribute any All Rights Reserved content included under fair use or with permission in your book. 

Self-Check

Check your knowledge of Creative Commons attributions with the quiz below.

References

Jacob, M., Jaszi, P., Adler, P., & Cross, W. (2021, February 17). Code of best practices in fair use for open educational resources. Center for Media and Social  Impact; The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property American University Washington College of Law. https://www.wcl.american.edu/impact/initiatives-programs/pijip/documents/code-of-best-practices-in-fair-use-for-open-educational-resources/

Zurn, P., Bassett, D. S., & Rust, N. C. (2020). The citation diversity statement: A practice of transparency, a way of life. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24(9), 669–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.009