Open Educational Resources

Attributing means giving credit. It's the same idea as "citing." 

Citing = Attributing
Citation = Attribution

Below are the two main methods of attributing or citing materials. Check with your instructors for their preferred method(s).

Resource page adopted from: "How to Cite OER" by Tacoma Community College Library is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

This is often referred to as the "TAL" formula for citing OER.

Use a regular citation style, like APA or MLA and simply add the CC license or public domain info at the end of a regular citation.

Below is an example in APA style.

1. Create a regular citation:

Basic formula for citing IMAGES in APA style:

Owner/Author/Creator. (Publication Date or n.d.). Title of image in italics [media type such as Painting, Photograph, Infographic]. Retrieved from URL.

Example of citing an IMAGE in APA style:

Claypool, R. (2012, October 5). Flamingo [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://flic.kr/p/dh7axD

2. Add the license info:

Use the acronyms (like CC BY SA), or the text versions of the license (e.g. CC Attribution - Share Alike, which is the text version of CC BY SA). For public domain material, add "Public Domain."

Example of adding license information for an IMAGE:

Claypool, R. (2012, October 5). Flamingo [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://flic.kr/p/dh7axD. CC BY license.

Additional example:

Example of adding license citation information for a creative commons licensed VIDEO:

All Things Animal TV. (10 September 2014). Flamingos: Animals for children. Kids videos. Kindergarten | Preschool learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz3XiJac57w. CC BY license.

More information

Image sources:

• "Photo icon" by IO-Images, Pixabay, is licensed under CC0 (public domain)
• "Video icon" by IO-Images, Pixabay, is licensed under CC0 (public domain)