Complete your Licence for Publication form

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You cannot complete a Licence for Publication form on another author's behalf. An editor can complete the form, with written authorisation from the author.

  • When your submission is accepted for publication, we will contact you to confirm the licence type.

  • You will then receive an email with a link to your individual Licence for Publication form. 

  • Click on the link in the email to be redirected to the Cochrane Account login page.

  • Log in to access the form.

  • Read the contents of the agreement.

  • Tick to confirm your Declarations of interest show accurately in the review, and that you agree to the Licence. 

  • Enter your name for confirmation at the bottom of the form and Submit.

  • A pop-up box with the message 'Thank you for submitting the form.' should appear.

  • Click OK to confirm submission.

Preview all forms

These forms are available to preview for information only. You must sign the online form for your specific review.

Contributions owned by employer

When an author’s contributions are owned by the author’s employer, additional documentation or signatures may be required. Any other involvement from an external institution (e.g. funding, commissioning) may require acknowledgment elsewhere in the review or protocol. 

Additional requirements relevant for specific employers are listed below and also display on the Licence for publication form. Authors can access their form and select the correct option under 'Contributions owned by employer' to view any additional requirements. 

WHO employees 

Addendum required. Downloadable below for advance completion. Also available to download within Licence for publication form.

Addendum to WHO green-open-access license 
Addendum to WHO Creative Commons license

A Cochrane Review or protocol prepared by a WHO staff member as part of the staff member's official duties belongs to WHO. For such cases, WHO has a standard agreement with John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. to vary certain provisions of this Form (including the grant of a non-exclusive licence). In such a case: (1) the paragraph 'Licence for Publication' will not apply but the staff member must still accept and submit the Licence for publication form; and (2) the staff member should make arrangements for their Director to sign the official addendum to this Form (contact openaccess@who.int with any queries); and (3) the WHO staff member shall then forward such addendum to CochraneLFP@wiley.com to arrange for it to be countersigned and returned to the WHO staff member.

Pursuant to the WHO Policy on Open Access, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd will deposit the Published Version to PubMed Central, which will be made publicly available immediately upon publication.

The addendum, signed by WHO and Wiley, must be uploaded when signing your Cochrane Licence for Publication. If you require assistance with this process, please contact support@cochrane.org.

Crown Copyright

Australian government and Reserve Bank of Australia

Download the Australian Government License Agreement or the Reserve Bank of Australia License Agreement if your article will publish Green Open Access. Upload the agreement as a PDF when completing the Licence for publication form. If your article will publish under a Creative Commons license, select 'Crown Copyright' and sign and return this Licence for Publication.

Canadian government

Download the Canadian Government License Agreement if your article will publish Green Open Access. Upload the agreement as a PDF when completing the Licence for publication form. If your article will publish under a Creative Commons license, select 'Crown Copyright' and sign and return this Licence for Publication.

UK Government

The rights in a Cochrane review or protocol prepared by an employee of a UK government department, agency, or other Crown body as part of his/her official duties, or which is an official government publication, belong to the Crown. An authorized signatory for the government must sign the Licence for publication form. Authors must ensure they comply with departmental regulations and have the appropriate authorisation to publish.

Authors should print off a copy of the Licence for publication form and ask an authorized signatory to sign the copy. Authors can then upload the signed form as a PDF when completing the Licence for publication form. If you require assistance with this process, please contact support@cochrane.org.

PAHO employees

Addendum required. Downloadable below for advance completion. Also available to download within Licence for publication form.

Addendum to PAHO green-open-access license
Addendum to PAHO Creative Commons license

A Cochrane Review or protocol prepared by a PAHO staff member in the normal course of duty; or outside the normal course of duty but related to the work of PAHO belongs to PAHO. For such cases, PAHO has a standard agreement with John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. to vary certain provisions of this Form (including the grant of a non-exclusive licence). In such a case: (1) the paragraph 'Licence for Publication' will not apply but the staff member must still accept and submit the Licence for Publication form; and (2) the staff member should complete the PAHO addendum and contact the PAHO legal department (LEG@paho.org) to arrange for signature of the completed PAHO addendum by the PAHO Deputy Director; and (3) the PAHO staff member shall then forward such addendum to CochraneLFP@wiley.com to arrange for it to be countersigned by the Publisher and then returned to the PAHO staff member.

Pursuant to the PAHO Policy on Open Access, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd will deposit the Published Version to PubMed Central, which will be made publicly available immediately upon publication.

The addendum, signed by PAHO and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. must be uploaded when signing your Cochrane Licence for Publication. If you require assistance with this process, please contact support@cochrane.org.

US government employees 

A Cochrane Review or protocol prepared by a US federal government employee as part of the employee's official duties, or which is an official US Government publication, is called a "US Government work", and is in the public domain in the United States of America. In such a case, the paragraph 'Licence for Publication' will not apply but the author(s) must still sign this Agreement. If the Cochrane Review or protocol was not prepared as part of the employee's duties or is not an official US Government publication, it is not US Government work.

US NIH employees 

To align with the updated 2024 NIH Public Access Policy, it is recommended that authors who are US NIH employees should select a Gold open access License for publication in order to be compliant. This will allow Wiley to automatically deposit to PubMed Central upon publication. 

 If you require assistance with this process, please contact support@cochrane.org

Other government employees 

In relation to a Cochrane review or protocol prepared by a government employee (other than a UK or US government employee) the government employee should check the box where indicated 'Other', and sign this Licence for Publication or he/she should upload an appropriate licence agreement provided by his/her government department when signing this Licence for Publication.

US NIH grantees

Authors in receipt of a grant from the National Institutes of Health (US) should ensure they have selected Gold open access to align with the updated 2024 NIH Public Access Policy. This published version will automatically be deposited to PubMed Central upon publication. For further information, see http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828037.html.

UK National Institute for Health Research grantees

No additional requirements where this option is selected.

Troubleshooting

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  • If you wish to retract a previously-submitted Licence for Publication, or for all other queries or technical issues, please contact support@cochrane.org.