diff --git a/LICENSE.md b/LICENSE.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8a0dd939
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+The MIT License (MIT)
+=====================
+
+Copyright © 2022 AidData
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
+obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
+files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without
+restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
+copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
+Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
+conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
+OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
+HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
+WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
+OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 520be62c..b7581fc8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # geo-datasets
 
 
-## Overview:
+## Overview
 
 each dataset directory should contain
 
@@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ each dataset directory should contain
 - ingest json prepared according to standard format used by geo framework (see existing datasets for examples)
 
 
-## Preparing data on SciClone:
+## Preparing data on SciClone
 
 all raw data should be initially downloaded into the `/sciclone/aiddata10/REU/pre_geo/raw` directory and processing should output to the `/sciclone/aiddata10/REU/pre_geo/data` directory
 
 after code review, testing, quality assurance steps data will be moved the `raw` and `data` directories within `/sciclone/aiddata10/REU/pre_geo` to their respective directories in `/sciclone/aiddata10/REU/geo` for ingest into the geo framework
+
+## License
+
+this repository is released under the MIT license. See LICENSE.md for more information