Using “Data Agreements” in universities to clarify research data rights of use

The Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences are research disciplines in which a large amount of research data is generated and in which the principles of FAIR and open data are now receiving considerable attention.

Both FAIR and open data aim to enable and enhance the reusability of data, but before research data can be made available for broad reuse, it is essential to clarify rights and permissions: who is authorized to share the data and with whom, who may publish it, how credit for data-related work will be attributed, and what arrangements apply if a researcher transfers to another institution.

Concrete regulation of usage rights for research data continues to pose major challenges for researchers and research institutions alike. There are legal uncertainties due to room for interpretation in the general legal requirements, and in many cases, there are no systematised workflows for defining usage rights. To close this gap, a working group at the Department of Earth Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin has developed and implemented a ‘Data Agreement’ that provides clarity on the exercise of usage rights to research data within the group (for students and researchers) and also helps to operationalise FAIR and CARE principles in everyday research practice.

The ‘Data Agreements’ are used as an opportunity to discuss expectations regarding data management and to define and agree on binding rights of use for research data with each new member of the group or student´s thesis projects. We present the key aspects of the ‘Data Agreements’ and report on practical experiences with their use. We show how it not only facilitates clear agreements and prevent subsequent disagreements. In addition to legal aspects, practical aspects such as backup strategies or storage locations can also be specified within this process and thus improve the data management practice within the group.

The ‘Data Agreements’ [1] were developed in the working group together with the Research Data Management team and the university's legal office and are available under CC0 for reuse in other research groups or institutions. While the agreements were developed within a university context and relate to German academic practice and law, they may be reused or serve as templates for other research institutions, in other national or international contexts, and over a wide variety of Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences disciplines and beyond.

[1] http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-46356