For Researchers

The university encourages the wide dissemination of Research data consistent with its mission and to ensure the research data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). Additionally, many sponsors and scientific publications require research data be made publicly accessible.

As outlined in this charge, the university established a Data Sharing Task Force to provide guidance and develop a framework to assist staff from the Chief Information Officer, University Library and OVPR in implementing the services, systems and policies necessary to support data sharing.

Although generally the wide dissemination of research data is encouraged, university policies, regulatory requirements, and sponsor restrictions may restrict the dissemination of research data. See RELATED INFORMATION and DataShare Workflow for additional information regarding restrictions.

Consider depositing your data in the university’s repository, DataShare or contacting the University Library (datashare@iastate.edu) to discuss other options.

The requirements in these guidelines are considered the MINIMUM requirements. If funding sources, or other governing documents/entities require additional standards, those standards will apply and supersede these guidelines.

This is determined on a case-by-case basis, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Research at vpr@iastate.edu or 515-294-6344.

See RELATED INFORMATION.

The university encourages the sharing of research data as soon as practicable while respecting disciplinary practices, regulatory restrictions, sponsor restrictions or requirements, and university policies.

The Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (OIPTT) will review submitted research data and recommend appropriate licensing options for the research data when intellectual property has been generated. An overview of the licensing options are available on OIPTT’s website. When data is meant to be open for reuse, licensing options are described on the DataShare website.

Incidental use of university resources generally includes: a) tools or services for which the costs have been reimbursed by the employee; b) student instructional support covered by tuition and fees (for students not on appointment); c) support received by student organizations through the student fee allocation process; and d) other ancillary uses of university resources, which shall be reviewed on a case by case basis to ensure consistency with the university’s intellectual property policies (in consultation with the Iowa State University Research Foundation).

The student generally owns the research data unless the university is otherwise required by contract or sponsored research agreement to own the data.

Ownership of research data is generally determined by intellectual contribution to their generation. In this scenario, the research data will generally be owned by both the student and the university, unless the university is otherwise required by contract or sponsored research agreement to own the data or unless more than incidental use of university resources were used in the generation of the research data.

Since the student had no intellectual contribution to the generation of the research data, the university will generally own the research data unless otherwise agreed to in writing.

Ownership of research data is generally determined by institutional and sponsor policies as applicable.   it is recommended that expectations regarding ownership of research data and data sharing are established at the start of the project.  Some sponsors now require data management plans, which provide an opportunity to establish clear roles and responsibilities among a research team.