Policy on open access for fao publications
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Last update: February 2025

Introduction

The production and dissemination of knowledge lie at the core of the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the aim of eradicating hunger, eliminating poverty and promoting economic and social development. According to Article 1 of its Constitution, FAO “shall collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information related to nutrition, food and agriculture”.

To encourage the wide use, reproduction and dissemination of the intellectual property that it produces, FAO published its first Open Access Policy for publications in 2018. The revised Policy on Open Access for FAO publications, effective as of 23 December 2024, reflects FAO’s ongoing commitment to open licensing principles and to the broad and unrestricted sharing of its knowledge in the form of global public goods for maximal impact, leaving no one behind.

The Policy on Open Access for FAO publications applies to FAO's knowledge products in the form of publications hosted in FAO's Knowledge Repository. The full policy is set out in Administrative Circular 2024/16.

Definition

Open Access can be defined as the immediate, irrevocable and free online access to research outputs, in particular publications, by any user worldwide, and reuse that is free of most restrictions, subject to proper attribution. FAO considers Open Access to be an important practical application of its commitment to the production, curation and dissemination of its knowledge to the world at large, particularly where such knowledge may not be readily accessible.

Scope and application

In accordance with the principles of openness and sharing envisioned under Open Access, and consistent with the mandate of FAO, this policy advocates the application of suitable open licences to FAO publications, including works prepared on behalf of FAO, in particular by operational partners, service providers and other entities under contract to FAO.

This policy is complemented by the guidelines set out in Publishing at FAO, the FAO Policy on Open Data Licensing for Statistical Databases, and the FAO Policy on Intellectual Property Rights.

Open Access requirements

In order to fulfill its commitment to Open Access, FAO requires that the published results of its activities be made freely available online to all, with no restrictions to access. All FAO publications must be deposited in the FAO Knowledge Repository (“Green” Open Access) or published through an Open Access publisher (“Gold” or “Diamond” Open Access).

FAO content published with external publishers in non-Open Access publications must include the right to deposit the Accepted Author’s Manuscripta or Pre-print versionb in the FAO Knowledge Repository. 

Creative Commons licensing

To facilitate access and reuse, FAO uses Creative Commons licences. FAO applies a Creative Commons licence to all eligible publications (including co-publications) under FAO copyright. This is the case if the FAO publication displays a Creative Commons icon on its copyright page (or other appropriate placement in the case of publications that do not include a copyright page).

As of 1 July 2024, the default licence that applies to FAO publications is the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence, available here. This licence allows anyone to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly perform content published online without explicit permission, provided that such use is accompanied by an acknowledgement that FAO is the source, and that any changes made to the original content are clearly indicated.

FAO may apply other licensing restrictions, e.g. non-commercial (NC), share-alike (SA) or no-derivatives (ND), to selected publications, such as FAO materials that are subject to restrictions from FAO Member Nations, or publications where only one translation into an FAO official language may exist.

FAO publications created between June 2018 and December 2024 that display a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 licence icon will continue to be disseminated under that licence. Creative Commons licences do not apply to works published before June 2018. 

FAO reserves the right to withhold Creative Commons licences.

FAO retains copyright of all intellectual property that it produces or that is produced on its behalf. This is a protective measure, to ensure that FAO always has the right to freely disseminate this material to its Members and stakeholders, and to ensure that FAO is able to protect itself against the reputational risk associated with inappropriate uses of the material. FAO does not normally waive or transfer its copyright ownership to third parties. 

Creative Commons licences should not be considered a substitute for copyright ownership. Rather, Creative Commons licences are a useful tool for managing copyright and allow FAO to state the terms and conditions for using FAO copyright material according to standards that are commonly understood and frequently applied throughout the publishing industry.

Open Access journals

FAO authorsc who publish in external journals are encouraged to publish in Open Access journals. Many publishers provide a “Gold Open Access” model, which often requires that the authoring institution pay an Article Processing Charge for the right to make articles available at no cost to users. “Diamond Open Access” is a model provided by publishers who do not charge a fee for the right to make the material available.

The applicable Creative Commons licence icon will be displayed on the published version of the article according to the guidelines of the journal publisher. The FAO copyright symbol and author disclaimerd must also appear on all FAO articles published in non-FAO journals.

Non-Open Access journals

FAO authors may also contribute to non-Open Access journals. In this case, FAO must always retain the right to publish the Pre-print/Accepted Author’s Manuscript version of the article in the FAO Knowledge Repository. This is known as “Green Open Access” and is managed through licence agreements negotiated by the Office of Communications (OCC). It is the responsibility of the FAO author or FAO authoring team to ensure that this version of the article is published in the FAO Knowledge Repository in accordance with FAO's publishing guidelines.

Publishing Open Access with commercial book publishers

FAO authoring teams who seek to co-publish book-length works with external publishers are encouraged to prioritize co-publishers that have Open Access policies that permit the material to be published under Creative Commons licences, in particular the Creative Common Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Roles and responsibilities

FAO authoring divisions or offices are responsible for:

  • Liaising with OCC to negotiate licences for book chapters/articles published by non-FAO publishers, and co-publishing agreements for books.
  • Paying Article Processing Charges (APCs) or any other fees for Open Access.
  • Creating records for all FAO publications in the Publications Workflow System (PWS).
  • Ensuring that all external publishers receive a copy of FAO’s signed licence or co-publishing agreement before publication.
  • Ensuring that all FAO articles published by external publishers are made freely available online. When Open Access is not possible through the publisher, FAO authors must ensure that the Pre-print/Accepted Author’s Manuscript version of the article is uploaded to the FAO Knowledge Repository.
  • Ensuring that all non-FAO contributors are aware of FAO’s Open Access Policy, and that they have agreed in writing to either transfer copyright ownership of their contribution to FAO, or have granted FAO a licence to disseminate their contribution as part of a larger work owned by FAO.

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FAO’s Office of Communications (OCC) is responsible for:

  • Ensuring appropriate copyright protection for all intellectual property produced by FAO or on FAO’s behalf. 
  • Providing support and documentation to technical divisions to ensure that all external publishers of FAO content receive FAO’s signed licence or co-publishing agreement.
  • Negotiating co-publishing agreements with external publishers for book-length works.
  • Ensuring that all non-restricted FAO publications are published in the FAO Knowledge Repository according to open standards, ensuring freedom of access to all, and the preservation of FAO institutional memory for posterity.
  • Ensuring that this policy is reflected in the terms and conditions to which any reuse of FAO copyright material is subject.

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All parties reusing FAO copyright material must:

  • Verify the licensing restrictions outlined in the copyright disclaimer of the work they wish to reproduce (licence restrictions vary according to the specific Creative Commons licence that has been applied to the work).
  • Obtain permission to reuse any FAO photos that may appear in FAO publications by submitting a request to: Photo-Library@fao.org.
  • Contact the copyright owner to obtain permission to reuse any third-party, non-FAO material (such as tables, figures, photos and illustrations) that may appear in FAO publications.
  • Submit requests for commercial use of publications published before 23 December 2024 to: www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request.
a. The final, accepted version of a manuscript after it has gone through peer review.
b. The version of a manuscript that has been submitted to a journal but has not yet been accepted for publication or peer reviewed.
c. FAO authors are any FAO personnel who may contribute to or participate in the development of an FAO product.
d. “The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.”
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