Terms of Use

REF Impact case study database licensing arrangements

The REF impact case study database makes it easier to find particular impact case studies of interest and enables users to search for relevant case studies according to flexible keyword-based searching and filtering criteria.

The licence terms below explain when you can re-use the impact case studies included within this database (http://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/) only. Additional REF impact case studies, not available within the database, exist on other platforms (including at http://results.ref.ac.uk/Results), a CC BY 4.0 licence does not apply to such case studies.

CC BY 4.0 licence permitted use

Where Higher education institutions (HEIs) have agreed that the impact case studies contained within the REF impact case study database can be used under the CC BY 4.0 licence, use is permitted under these licence conditions: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

A more user friendly version is available here but does not replace the full legal code: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The ‘Attribution’ element of the CC-BY licence requires users to give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes are made. This means that HEIs will be appropriately credited where case studies are used. This may be done in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses the user or the use of material.

Unless listed below all HEIs have agreed that their case studies can be used in this way.

Case studies unavailable under the CC BY 4.0 licence

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are the rights owners to their impact case studies and 31 HEIs were not in a position to agree to their impact studies being made available under a CC BY 4.0 licence on the REF impact case study database. A list of HEIs where this applies is available below. In such cases, the following terms apply:

Copies for research

Although these impact case studies are not licensed under CC BY 4.0, researchers can still make copies of any copyright material under fair dealing provisions, for example to conduct text and data mining. They can do this without having to obtain additional permission to make these copies from the rights holder, noting that making multiple copies such as putting the case study on a shared drive, computer network, intranet or website is not usually permitted under fair dealing provisions. Researchers are only permitted to make copies within the fair dealing provisions for non-commercial research or where otherwise permitted by law. If in doubt, you should seek clarification and permission from the relevant rights holder (the HEI that submitted the case study in the first instance) including in instances where you would like to re-use the impact case studies in publications and for other purposes.

Other users

Specific fair dealing provisions are also available for others, including students, as detailed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright

The case studies for the following HEIs cannot be used under the CC BY 4.0 licence:

  • Birmingham City University
  • Bishop Grosseteste University
  • Cardiff University
  • Harper Adams University
  • Imperial College London
  • Newcastle University
  • Norwich University of the Arts
  • Queen Mary University of London
  • Queen's University of Belfast
  • Rose Bruford College
  • St Mary's University College (Belfast)
  • The Institute of Cancer Research
  • The London School of Economics and Political Science
  • The Robert Gordon University 1
  • The Royal Academy of Music
  • The School of Oriental and African Studies
  • The University of Bolton
  • The University of East Anglia
  • The University of Southampton
  • The University of Surrey
  • The University of York
  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Central Lancashire
  • University of Durham
  • University of Glasgow 2
  • University of the Arts, London
  • University of Ulster
  • University of Worcester
  • York St John University
  • The Institute of Zoology
  • University of London Institute in Paris
  1. This includes impact case studies in their Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy joint submission with University of the Highlands and Islands
  2. This includes impact case studies in their Chemistry joint submission with University of Strathclyde