Berkeley Lab

Data Policy

The Watershed Function SFA Data Management Framework is designed to make the project’s scientifically appropriate research data available internally and externally as rapidly as possible. Please refer to the Field-Data Workflow and Data Policy resources below to ensure you are abiding by our data standards.

Field-Data Workflow

(Click images to enlarge)

Data Policy

DATA GENERATED USING WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA RESOURCES (instrumentation, personnel or funding) 
1. Watershed Function SFA DATA CONTRIBUTOR POLICY:

As a Watershed Function SFA data contributor, you agree:

  1. To provide core metadata for all the measurements, including appropriate acknowledgements (list provided in a separate document).
  2. To quality check the data.
  3. To archive data in the Watershed Function SFA Data management system
  4. To provide the data under a free fair-use agreement (see below).
2. WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA DATA AVAILABILITY POLICY:
  1. Data will be made available typically within 3 months of observation, collection or laboratory analysis, QA/QC analysis and processing to Watershed Function SFA personnel. It will be made available publicly to the broader community within 18 months of collection. Data from sources that do not have any distribution restrictions will be made available sooner when possible (including real-time).
  2. In cases where data have undergone QA/QC and other processing, the processed version of the data will be the version available through the Watershed Function SFA portal (the underlying original data may only be available by request).
  3. d. Data displayed in publications (e.g. data displayed in charts, figures, and images) resulting from Watershed Function SFA research will be digitally accessible within a month of publication.
  4. Watershed Function SFA will provide suggested citations for all published Watershed Function SFA datasets and data products, and assign DOIs to these published Watershed Function SFA data products.
3. POLICY FOR DATA USAGE BY THE WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA TEAM:

It is the responsibility of the Watershed Function SFA data user to:

  1. Inform the scientist(s) who contributed the data of how you plan to use the data before you start using it
    1. Contact the data contributor, and offer the opportunity to contribute and become a co-author.
    2. Notify the data contributor when a derivative work based on or derived from the data and documentation is created.
    3.  Acknowledge data by citing the relevant DOI or paper(s), and/or acknowledging funding for the site support. If the data download was not accompanied by preferred acknowledgment language, ask the relevant principal investigator.
    4. Conflicts regarding data usage will be arbitrated by the Watershed Function SFA project leaders after consulting with involved parties.
    5. For work supported wholly under this SFA, acknowledge Watershed Function SFA funding using the following text “This material is based upon work supported as part of the Sustainable Systems Scientific Focus Area funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under Award Number DE-AC02-05CH11231.” For work partially supported by the SFA, acknowledge the funding as described in http://esd1.lbl.gov/research/projects/sustainable_systems/team.html#BER
    6. Data contributors may indicate that they always allow use without need for co-authorship.
4. DATA USAGE POLICIES FOR DATA AVAILABLE VIA THE WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA COMMUNITY PORTAL

The data portal will provide access to all Watershed Function SFA generated data when it is released Free Fair-Use.

  1. Free Fair-Use – Data will be publicly available for broad use subject to the three conditions below. All data generated using Watershed Function SFA resources will be released Free Fair-Use. Data contributors with data generated using non-Watershed Function SFA resources can elect to release their data Free Fair-Use. Those accessing data through the portal are expected to:
  1. Inform the data contributor of data access and plan for data usage (this e-mail is sent when the data are downloaded).
  2. Acknowledge data by citing the relevant DOI or paper(s), and/or acknowledging funding for the site support. If the data download was not accompanied by the preferred acknowledgment language, the relevant principal investigator will inform the data downloader of preferred language.
  3.  Acknowledge Watershed Function SFA as “This material is based upon work supported as part of the Sustainable Systems Scientific Focus Area funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under Award Number DE-AC02-05CH11231.”
EXTERNAL COLLABORATOR DATA (Data and metadata generated by non-Watershed Function SFA resources) 
1. DATA CONTRIBUTOR POLICY: 

As an unfunded collaborator with the Watershed Function SFA, you agree:

  1. To provide core metadata for all the measurements including appropriate acknowledgements (list provided in a separate document).
  2. To provide quality checking of data.
  3. To archive data in the Watershed Function SFA Data management system to enable verification of results using the data.
  4. To define your preferred data sharing parameters.
2. DATA AVAILABILITY POLICY:
    1. Data and metadata will be available only in accordance with agreements made with the contributing organization or researcher. Below are possible options:
      1. Data are made available in the same manner as data collected using Watershed Function SFA resources
      2. Data are shared with the Watershed Function SFA team but restricted to distribution within the Watershed Function SFA team.
      3. Data are shared with a specific researcher or group of researchers within the Watershed Function SFA team and not available otherwise.
      4. Data are shared as defined by data contributor.
3. POLICY FOR DATA USAGE BY THE WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA TEAM: 

It is the responsibility of the Watershed Function SFA data user to:

  1. Follow the usage policy of data collected using Watershed Function SFA resources (including any additional requirements stipulated by the data owner).
4. DATA USAGE POLICIES FOR DATA AVAILABLE VIA THE WATERSHED FUNCTION SFA COMMUNITY PORTAL

The data from external collaborators may be provided via the portal if the data usage agreement with the data contributor allows. Allowed usage definitions are:

  1. Free Fair-Use – described in the Data Generated Using Watershed Function SFA Resources section
  2. Limited Use – Data contributors with data generated using non-Watershed FunctionSFA resources could elect to allow their data to be released with a Limited Use designation which would add one or more of the following clauses to the usage. Those accessing data through the portal will be required to:
    1. Initiate contact with the data contributor, so that they have the opportunity to contribute or indicate how they wish to be acknowledged
    2. Notify the data contributor when any derivative work based on or derived from the data and documentation is distributed.
    3. Notify users that such derivative work is a modified version and not the original data and documentation.

This Watershed Function SFA data-sharing and data-archiving policy complies with the U.S. DOE Office of Science’s Statement on Digital Management: Sharing and preserving data are central to protecting the integrity of science by facilitating validation of results and to advancing science by broadening the value of research data to disciplines other than the originating one and to society at large. To the greatest extent and with the fewest constraints possible, and consistent with the requirements and other principles of this Statement, data sharing should make digital research data available to and useful for the scientific community, industry, and the public.