Resource Guides: Research Data Management Resources: Data Sharing Policies and Copyright

Data Policies

“The Administration is committed to ensuring that, to the greatest extent and with the fewest constraints possible…, the direct results of federally funded scientific research are made available to and useful for the public, industry, and the scientific community.” John Holdren, OSTP Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies (2013)

“Publicly funded research data are a public good, produced in the public interest, which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner that does not harm intellectual property.” RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy (2012)

Resources

Sherpa Juliet
A searchable database of funders' publishing and data archiving policies
DMPTool Public Data Management Plan Templates
DMPTool maintains a list of funder requirements, templates, and sample plans.

Funder Data Policies

NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing
Effective January 25, 2023, researchers will need to provide a data management and sharing plan when submitting a grant application or contract proposal to the NIH. Replaces the 2003 NIH Data Sharing Policy.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Data Management Plan Policy:
New/competing grants and research contracts must include a data management plan for managing, storing and disseminating the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of research funded by AHRQ, or state why data management is not possible, as a component of their grant application or research contract proposal. Effective May 26, 2020.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Data Sharing Policy:
Researchers and their institutions funded by NIAAA are required to provide data sharing plan and submit grant-related human subjects data into the NIAAA Data Archive. Effective for all new and resubmitting grants January 25, 2019 onward.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data Sharing Policy:
Researchers who are funded by NIMH are required to deposit all raw and analyzed data (including, but not limited to, clinical, genomic, imaging, and phenotypic data) from experiments involving human subjects into the NIMH Data Archive. Effective January 1, 2020.
HHMI Policy for the Sharing of Publication-related Materials, Data, and Software:
If data related to the publication can not be included in the publication itself, access to the data should be made freely online via a disciplinary repository or other means. Effective since May, 2007.
NSF Data Management Plan Requirement:
Any proposal to the NSF must include a 2-page supplemental Data Management Plan detailing how the project will conform to NSF Policy on the Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results. Effective since January, 2011.

Data Sharing Requirements by Federal Agency - from SPARC
This community resource for tracking, comparing, and understanding both current and future U.S. federal funder research data sharing policies is a joint project of SPARC & Johns Hopkins University Libraries.

Data Policy Finder

Don't know if the journal where you want to publish has a data policy? Look in the information for authors or Ask a Librarian.

Who Owns the Data?

An individual or institution owns data when they hold the legal rights to that data. The question of who owns data depends upon the conditions of its creation. The answer will differ if the data was created through the course of research or as a condition of employment or contract.

Typically, there are three parties involved in data ownership:

Funding Agencies provide the resources to support the research and in doing so have rights to the data. Per the Bayh-Dole Act (1980), funding agencies generally allow institutions to own data produced in research. However, they commonly have stipulations or requirements regarding how data should be managed and disseminated. These requirements are often a condition for receiving an award.
Sponsoring Institutions are responsible for the receipt, management, and disbursement of federal, philanthropic, and private funding dollars. Typically, institutions are the owners of research data. In this role, they are ultimately responsible for ensuring that reserach is conducted ethically and that it is retained as required.
Principal Investigators conduct research and are granted stewardship over their research data by the Institution. PIs must ensure that the data is collected efficiently and ethically and that they are in compliance with institutional, local, and federal laws and regulations regarding the collection and managment of data. PIs may have some rights to the data. For example, a PI can arrange with the institution to take research data with them if they leave the institution.

From Guidelines for Responsible Data Management in Scientific Research, page 6; NECDMC Module 5: Ethical and Legal Considerations for Research Data.

UMass Chan Medical School Policies

Data Classification Examples
Examples of public, internal, confidential, and highly restricted use data as described by the UMass Chan policy.
Data Classification Policy
UMass Chan IT policy outlining the categories into which all UMass Chan data fall, with appropriate access and handling requirements.
Intellectual Property Policy
UMass Chan owns any Intellectual Property, including research data, that are made, discovered, or created by UMass Chan faculty, staff, or students (including residents). This does not include Exempted Scholarly Works (such as textbooks, class notes, research articles, or student theses and dissertations).
Investigator's Manual
A guide to the policies and procedures related to Human Subjects research at UMass Chan.
IRB Standard Operating Procedures
Supporting documentation and guidelines from the IRB for conducting Human Subjects research. See Investigator's Manual.