| Data Policy |
The Arctic Data Centre strongly encourage the concept of ethically free and open data in accordance with the IASC data policy. This also implies that the Arctic Data Centre strongly encourage data consumers to cite the data they use. IASC data are multidisciplinary and disparate. This document aims to provide a framework for these data to be handled in a consistent manner, and to strike a balance between the rights of investigators, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the public, thus the need for widespread access through the free and unrestricted sharing and exchange of both data and documentation. The document is compatible with existing policies from the International Council of Science (ICSU) and other IASC organizational collaborators, and it builds on recommendations from the IPY Data Committee", the SCAR/IASC Bipolar Action Group", and international, strategic, polar-data workshops.!" The central purpose of this document is to support the IASC mission and especially the following specific objectives. Provide mechanisms and instruments to support science development; Seek to ensure that scientific data and information from the Arctic are safeguarded, freely exchangeable and accessible; Promote international access to all geographic areas and the sharing of knowledge, logistics and other resources; Provide for the freedom and ethical conduct of science; Promote and involves the next generation of scientists working in the Arctic And the following IASC Working Group objectives: 3.3 Encourage the exchange and dissemination of information; 3.4 Encourage means of initiating and maintaining observational systems and the data they produce, and coordinating with other long-term observational programs in the Arctic and globally. Realizing these objectives requires a focus on basic norms and principles of science, namely that scientific results must be verifiable, reproducible, and recognized. Therefore, data must be preserved and openly accessible. These principles are the heart of this document and IASC will act as a strong advocate for both the principles and clear and forceful implementation. IASC data are everything necessary to reproduce and verify a scientific result from an IASC endorsed activity. This is both a broad definition, in that it can include everything from observations and model outputs to software and algorithms, and a restrictive definition, in that it is limited to IASC endorsed results. IASC is neither a research program nor a funding agency. It does not create data per se; rather it acts as a coordinator that facilitates international collaboration. IASC acts as a moral and scientific authority that works to ensure that its endorsed results are truly verifiable, while also actively promoting the principles of verity, openness, and ethics. |
| Data Sharing Principle |
In accordance with the Twelfth WM0 Congress, Resolution 40 (Cg-XII, 1995) the Thirteenth WM0 Congress, Resolution 25 (Cg XII, 1999) the ICSU 1996 General Assembly Resolution the ICSU World Data System Data Policy'" the ICSU Assessment on Scientific Data and Information (ICSU 2004b) and in order to maximize the benefit of data gathered under the auspices of the IASC, the IASC Council requires that IASC data are made available fully, freely, and openly with minimal delay. The only exceptions to this requirement of full, free, and open access are: where human subjects are involved, confidentiality shall be protected as appropriate and guided by the principles of informed consent; where local and traditional knowledge is concerned, rights of the knowledge holders shall not be compromised; where data release may cause harm, specific aspects of the data may need to be kept protected (for example, locations of nests of endangered birds or locations of sacred sites). These ethically allowable restrictions are in accordance with International Arctic Social Science Association's Guiding Principles on the Conduct of Research and Article 8 of the Convention on Biodiversity. In addition, local, national and agency guidelines and policies regarding ethical conduct of research must be followed. Ethically open access includes recognition of the concerns, rights, and management practices of Indigenous knowledge holders and stewards. In the context of research involving Indigenous knowledge, data management principles based on the concepts of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility should be observed. This includes appropriate engagement of Indigenous people, communities or organizations throughout the entire data life cycle, formal attribution of contributed knowledge, establishment of informed consent for use of knowledge and derived products, and the maintenance of contributor control of data and information resources. Required institutional ethics review processes (e.g. Institutional Review Boards, Research Ethics Boards etc.) will guide data management, however Indigenous communities or organizations may have specific, practices or requirements in place. It is the responsibility of researchers to familliarize themselves with and adhere to these practices and requirements. Any data access restrictions must be described and justified in a data management plan based on these ethical, rather than proprietary, principles of data sharing. In general, data providers and users should adhere to the Polar Information Commons Ethics and Norms of Data Sharing,x especially with regards to fair attribution of and collaboration with data providers. ICSU (2004b) defines "Full and open access"as equitable, non-discriminatory access to all data preferably free of cost, but some reasonable cost-recovery is acceptable. WM0 Resolution 40 uses the terms "Free and unrestricted' and defines them as non- discriminatory and without charge. "Without charge", in the context of this resolution means at no more than the cost of reproduction and delivery without charge for the data and products themselves. IASC seeks for open data to be an ethical norm of science. In this time of rapid Arctic change, it is more important than ever that data be available with minimal delay. This is meant to accommodate reasonable periods for quality control and verification of the data but does not generally allow for periods of embargo or exclusive use. IASC does not generally support exclusive use periods, and any such periods must be carefully justified in the data management plan. Data also require documentation (or metadata). Documentation is essential to the discovery, access, and effective use of data. All IASC data must be fully documented and described. In accordance with the ISO standard Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (0AIS)*, complete documentation may be defined as all the information necessary for data to be independently understood by users and to ensure proper stewardship of the data. Regardless of any data access restrictions or delays in delivery of the data itself, all IASC projects must make both digital and analog data discoverable by sharing basic descriptive information of collected data through the Polar Information Commons or in an internationally recognized, standard format to an appropriate catalog or registry (see Appendix B). |
