Do you deposit the full text of your publication in HAL? From February 2026, a new framework is introduced for managing reuse conditions in HAL: the “licence” field needs to be completed in order to clarify the reuse conditions of each deposited file. See below for a summary of what you need to know about this change.
Why completing this metadata is essential
Making your document open access does not mean authorising its unrestricted reuse. Clearly indicating the status of each file deposited in HAL helps to clarify the rights associated with its reuse and ensures that these rights are respected. This information helps to ensure that the legal framework chosen by the author is respected.
By incorporating licence information into the metadata, HAL clearly communicates the reuse conditions for each resource in a format that can be understood by both humans and machines. This requirement is aligned with the FAIR principles and the best practices of open science. It also strengthens HAL’s position within the open science ecosystem.
What exactly is a licence?
The term ‘licence’ is a generic term used to specify conditions for reuse. While Creative Commons licences are widely used in our research communities and are the most obvious example, they represent only part of the possible options.
The licences available in the deposit interface are as follows:
- The Creative commons licences:
- CC BY – Attribution
- CC BY-SA – Attribution-ShareAlike
- CC BY-NC – Attribution-NonCommercial
- CC BY-NC-SA – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- CC BY-ND – Attribution-NoDerivatives
- CC BY-NC-ND – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
- Etalab – French open data licence. This licence grants anyone the right to reuse the data without charge, worldwide and indefinitely, the main requirement is to attribute the source.
- Copyright – All rights reserved
As you can see from this list, completing the licence metadata does not necessarily mean choosing a Creative Commons licence. For example, if you have the publisher’s authorisation to deposit the published version of your work, which is copyrighted by the publisher, you will need to select ‘Copyright / All rights reserved’ when completing the licence metadata for the deposit.
Creative Commons licences are essential for open science: they promote the circulation of knowledge, transparency, collaboration and innovation, while enabling authors to retain their rights and define limits according to their objectives.
In line with open science principles, the CCSD therefore recommends the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence. This is merely a recommendation: each author is free to choose a different licence that better suits their needs.
To help you select a licence, there are many resources available to guide you, such as the ‘Choose a License for Your Work‘ page, our ‘Choosing a Creative Commons licence for your deposit‘ self-training module or The Essentials: Select a license in HAL. If you are depositing the published version of your document, you must, of course, select the same licence mentioned in the file.
What is changing in the deposit form
Until now, licence metadata appeared in two sections of the deposit form: the ‘File’ section and the ‘Main informations’ section. This could lead to confusion.
The licence field that could be completed in the ‘Main information’ section has been removed (except for software deposits). If the data is present in existing deposits, it is now associated with the file. Since the goal is to define the conditions for reusing files, deposits without files (i.e., metadata-only records) no longer contain this field. The existing information has been archived and is no longer displayed.
The licence field in the ‘File’ section is now a mandatory metadata field. If you are depositing several files, you can apply a different licence to each one. A feature allows you to associate the same licence with all files with a single click if you wish to apply the same licence to all the files.
Before the deposit is saved, a reminder of the selected licence (or the licence extracted from the file) appears in the Validation block. If the metadata field is empty, you can fill it here, where you also confirm the HAL terms and conditions.
… and what will not change
- Thanks to the Grobid application, the licence specified in the PDF file can be extracted and used to automatically populate the metadata.
- If journal articles or conference papers are linked to an ANR project, the CC-BY licence is applied by default if no licence is specified. This is indicated in the ‘Validation’ block, and can be modified if necessary.
- If you selected a licence and chose automatic transfer to HAL when submitting your file on the conference website managed on Sciencesconf, the HAL deposit will be completed automatically.
- For software deposits, licences have been mandatory since this document type was introduced and are based on a specific reference framework. The licence metadata remains in the ‘Main informations’ section.
As a reminder, you can select a default licence in the deposit preferences section of your profile. This will then be applied automatically to all your deposits.
Why the HAL authorisation?
Currently, 75% of files in HAL have no licence associated with their metadata. Since it is impossible to assign licences retroactively without the authors’ explicit consent, how should these deposits be handled?
To address this issue, the CCSD has decided to rely on the conditions accepted by each depositor at the time of deposit. These conditions grant HAL the right to disseminate and distribute the deposited file, in line with the open archive’s mission.
The HAL authorisation reiterates that all documents are protected by copyright and specifies the rights granted.
A file with a HAL authorisation (mentioned on the cover page) indicates to users that they may read, consult, and cite the work, provided they mention the author(s) and the source. However, they must obtain permission from the author or rights holder to reproduce, adapt, or use the work beyond legal exceptions.
HAL authorisation is applied to any file for which no licence is indicated in the metadata. It is used only for retrospective content and is therefore not included in the list of selectable licences. However, it can be replaced if you wish to choose another licence available in the interface.
Theses
Most theses are imported via the ABES STAR application. As licence information is not included in the thesis reporting workflow, the HAL authorisation will be applied instead.
If an author deposits their own thesis via the form, they must specify the licence at that time.
Changes in TEI
The changes to licence management in the XML-TEI format are as follows:
- The teiHeader section indicates the licence for the metadata (CC0).
- The licence for each file is specified in publicationStmt > availability.
Production release at the end of 2026 for SWORD imports
A more gradual schedule is planned for services that use SWORD imports to feed HAL, starting in the last quarter of 2026. This will allow time to update applications.
Until contributing services update their XML-TEI format, HAL will apply the HAL authorisation by default when no licence is indicated.
API evolution
HAL’s search API will also expose licence information for each file:
- licence_s: contains the licence of the main file,
- fileLicenses_s: array of licences associated with “Document” files,
- fileAnnexeLicenses_s: array of licences associated with “Supplementary data” (annexes) files.