Data Access Policy

Revised on 13 July 2017

• Introduction
• Data Release Policy
• Data Access
• Andrews LTER Data Use Agreement

Introduction

It is considered a matter of professional ethics to acknowledge the work of other scientists. With this in mind, Andrews Experimental Forest researchers and data providers request appropriate citation and acknowledgement for subsequent distribution or publication of any work derived from these data sets. Data users are strongly encouraged to consider consultation, collaboration and/or co-authorship with original investigators.

Data Sets are released to the public domain under the Creative Commons license CC BY “Attribution” (see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The Andrews LTER data access policy includes three sections regarding the release and use of Andrews LTER data products. They include the release policy for data products, user registration requirements for accessing data, and the licensing agreement specifying conditions for data use. This policy is written in compliance with the LTER Network Data Access Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/policies/data-access).

1. Data Release Policy

Data and information derived from publicly funded research in the Andrews Experimental Forest, totally or partially from National Science Foundation LTER funds, or Partner Agency or Institution funds where a formal memorandum of understanding with LTER has been established, are made available online with as few restrictions as possible on a nondiscriminatory basis. Andrews LTER scientists make every effort to release data in a timely fashion and with attention to accurate and complete metadata.

Part A. Data.

There are two data types:

Type 1 - data are to be released to the general public including access through the LTER Network Information System within two years from collection and,

Type 2 - data are to be released to restricted audiences according to terms specified by the owners of the data. Type 2 data are considered to be exceptional and should be rare in occurrence. The justification for restricting or delaying release of Type 2 exceptions must be well documented and approved by the Andrews Executive Committee. Some examples of Type 2 data restrictions include legal or privacy issues such as locations of rare or endangered species, data that are covered under prior licensing or copyright, or data covered by the Human Subjects Act. Researchers that make use of Type 2 data may be subject to additional restrictions to protect any applicable commercial or confidentiality interests. Legacy data with known quality issues may also be considered Type 2 with justification. These data sets may be elevated to Type 1 dependent on available funding to solve pending issues. Additionally, graduate student data may be restricted until the time of publication to protect their professional development.

Data Prioritization: While the intention of the Andrews LTER policy is to promote maximum availability for ecological data, resource constraints have led to establishing criteria for prioritizing data for release. Primary observations collected for core research activities directly supported by LTER funding receive the highest priority for data release. Data collected with partial LTER support or where the LTER program has added value to resulting data products will also receive high priority for release. Other types of data including student thesis data, schoolyard LTER data, or non-LTER data that was acquired for LTER research may be ranked at a lower priority. Legacy data will be released as resources become available. Interim data such as data created during stages within an analytic workflow, raw or replicate data values that were subsequently aggregated or processed for release, or individual outputs from stochastic models will only be released if additional scientific value is present beyond which the final data products already provide.

Conditions Justifying Type 2 Status

1. Legal Issues.
   
   1. The data includes the location of sensitive resources that might be endangered by revealing the location. This would include locations of artifacts, threatened or endangered species, and certain permanent plots.
   2. Data will not be released that may compromise one's personal privacy. This might include types of census data involving human subjects.
   3. Data that are covered by copyright laws.
2. Data Quality Assurance and Control Issues.
   
   1. The quality of the data is currently unknown or too low to be released.
3. Publication Issues.
   
   1. The protection of a graduate student may prevent the release of data where their professional development might be compromised by releasing the data too early.

Part B. Metadata.

1. Metadata documenting archived and/or online data sets of all types listed above will be made available within two years of data collection.
2. All metadata will be publicly available regardless of any restrictions on access to the data.
3. All metadata will follow LTER recommended standards and will minimally contain adequate contact information and description to allow proper discovery, access, and citation. Complete information including methods, data structure, semantics, and level of quality assurance is expected for most datasets and is strongly encouraged.

2. Data Access

Access to all Andrews LTER Type 1 data is unrestricted and freely available, but we track usage of data to evaluate its impact within the community. We request that Data Users:

• Provide Name, Email Address, Affiliation, and Proposed Use
• Refer to the Andrews LTER Data Use Agreement

3. Andrews LTER Data Use Agreement

The re-use of scientific data has the potential to greatly increase communication, collaboration and synthesis within and among disciplines, and thus is fostered, supported and encouraged. This Data Set is released under the Creative Commons license CC BY “Attribution” (see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Creative Commons license CC BY - Attribution is a license that allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work (even commercially), as long as you are credited for the original creation. This license accommodates maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.

It is considered professional conduct and an ethical obligation to acknowledge the work of other scientists. The Data User is asked to provide attribution of the original work if this data package is shared in whole or by individual parts or used in the derivation of other products. A recommended citation is provided for each Data Set in the Andrews LTER data catalog.

The Data User should acknowledge any institutional support or specific funding awards referenced in the metadata accompanying this dataset in any publications where the Data Set contributed significantly to its content. Acknowledgements should identify the supporting party, the party that received the support, and any identifying information such as grant numbers. For example:

Data were provided by the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and Long Term Ecological Research program, administered cooperatively by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Oregon State University, and the Willamette National Forest. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DEB-1440409.

The Data Set has been released in the spirit of open scientific collaboration. Data Users are thus strongly encouraged to consider consultation, collaboration and/or co-authorship with the Data Set Creator.

Disclaimer:

The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data.

Definitions used in the Andrews LTER Data Use Agreement

Data Set: Digital data and its metadata derived from any research activity such as field observations, collections, laboratory analysis, experiments, or the post-processing of existing data and identified by a unique identifier issued by a recognized cataloging authority such as a site, university, agency, or other organization.

Data User: Individual to whom access has been granted to this Data Set, including his or her immediate collaboration sphere, defined here as the institutions, partners, students and staff with whom the Data User collaborates, and with whom access must be granted, in order to fulfill the Data User's intended use of the Data Set.

Data Set Creator: Individual or institution that produced the Data Set.

Thank you for your cooperation. We hope your collaboration with our site is a productive one!

The Andrews Data Access Policy was revised on 25 May 2017 to be compliant with the LTER Network policy (May 19, 2017) and the Environmental Data Initiative (April 2017). Specific sections of the Network and EDI policy are reproduced here. This Andrews Data Access Policy may be revised by the Andrews LTER Executive Board, or at the request of the same body.