Step 1 - Check applicable licences for attribution requirements

Dataset licences often include an attribution clause. Please carefully check the licence.

If the dataset licence does not contain explicit indication on how to acknowledge the data you still need to provide attribution to the Copernicus program (see Step 3). Otherwise, you need both, to follow the indications provided in the licence and to acknowledge the Copernicus program.

Step 2 - Cite the CDS Catalogue entry (traceable source of data)

Step 1 - Acknowledge according to dataset licence

When using any of the data published on the Climate Data Store (CDS), you agree to abide to the terms and conditions of the dataset’s licence agreement. The agreement defines the legal requirements regarding the use, adaptation, and distribution of the data.

In practical terms, you will be asked to agree to the applicable licence agreement(s) when you download the data from the CDS. It is highly recommended to download the licence agreement and save it in the same location as the data itself. This ensures that you will have access to the licence agreement at all times.

When using the data and publishing your work, you are asked to state the expected attribution (found in the licence agreement(s) - all that apply) within the acknowledgement section of your publication.

For datasets that have been generated under the framework of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), you shall follow the rules outlined in the Licence to Use Copernicus Products (v 1.2) . More specifically, Clause 5 documents the attribution terms and conditions of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data. It is, thus, a legal requirement to credit the respective Copernicus service.

For datasets that have been brokered under the framework of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3) - i.e. data provided via the Climate Data Store was generated by an external party and may also be published elsewhere with its own DOI e.g. CDS data brokered from EUMETSAT) - you shall follow the rules outlined in the associated licence agreement(s) - all that apply.

In all cases, the acknowledgement should also include a brief statement indicating where the data was downloaded from (see Step 3).

Step 2 - Cite each dataset version used

Citing a dataset correctly is just as important as citing articles, books, images and websites - each dataset is a source of evidence to support your argument. With a data citation, users will credit the creators and contributors of the dataset, provide information on where to find the dataset, support reproducibility and validation of results, and enhance traceability of the data. Adding to the benefits for the data users, crediting the individual creators of a dataset contributes to the list of publication for individuals.

Considering the above, we ask you to cite each dataset version you have used, like you would cite other sources, as part of the bibliography in your publication. You will find the information on how to cite and reference the dataset on the CDS/web Catalogue entry in the CDS catalogue entry (see Citation under References, when available otherwise please contact us) .

Please keep in mind, whenever you use a different version, you should cite the respective version. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the citation will ensure that users will have access to the data and associated metadata.

For datasets that have been brokered under the framework of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3), original data citations (when indicated in the licence agreement(s)) must also be cited, as part of the bibliography in your publication.

Step 3 - Reference the dataset used

Following the mandatory attribution of the dataset as described in the licence agreement, we ask you to provide information on the location of the dataset. To ensure the traceability of data and their associated information, users are encouraged to refer specifically to the dataset(s) used by citing the authors of the dataset(s) in the following form: 

<last name of first author> et al. (<Year of publication>)

See Step 2 for author's name.

The formatting of the citation can change depending on the journal (or other content provider where you are referencing the data)  requirements. The formatting of the  Citation provided by the CDS is given as an example. 

Step 3 - Provide clear and visible attribution to the Copernicus programme and attribute each data product used (to accredit the creators of the data products)

Copernicus programme:

[Generated using/Contains modified] Copernicus Climate Change Service information [year]. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.

Products:

You will find the information on how to cite the data products in For datasets that have been generated under the framework of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), author's name is as shown on the CDS catalogue entry (see Citation under References, when available otherwise please contact us) .

For datasets that have been brokered under the framework of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3), you must clearly indicate the origin of the data made available from the Climate Data Store i.e.: