The following websites provide an explanation of the differences between attribution and citation. Keep in mind that for Open Access Resources some contributors might request specific details be added to the attribution or even left out. For instance, it is not uncommon for contributors to request their name to be removed from the attribution.
Creative Commons - Best Practices for Attribution
West Pennsylvania Regional Data Center - Data Attribution and Citation
University of Notre Dame - Citing vs Attribution
Piedmont Virginia Community College - Attribution
University of Michigan - Attribute Open Content
For more information, see the FVLC Copyright Education and Information Guide
Too many choices?
Use the creativecommons.org License Chooser tool to make attribution easier:
Public Domain- Free content without restrictions. No attribution is required.
Attribution BY- You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is allowed, and you may modify and adapt.
Attribution ShareAlike BY-SA - You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is allowed, and you may modify and adapt.
Attribution NoDerivs BY-ND - You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is allowed, and you may not modify or adapt.
Attribution NonCommercial BY-NC - You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is not allowed, you may modify and adapt.
Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike BY-NC-SA - You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is not allowed, and you may modify for adapt.
Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivs BY-NC-ND - You may copy and publish, attribution is required, commercial use is not allowed, and you may not modify or adapt.
The above image, "Creative Commons License Spectrum” by Creative Commons, is allowed to be shared and adapted as long as attribution is provided.
