Cascading compliance requirements for thesis-related data and software~Cascading compliance requirements for thesis-related data and software: A survey of institutional policy at American (AAU) research universities

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Author

Clement, Gail

Description

According to the CODATA/Research Data Alliance draft International Principles onthe Legal Interoperability of Research Data (https://rd-alliance.org/group/rdacodata-legal-interoperability-ig/wiki/legal-principles-data.html), the distribution and dissemination of re-search data (including software) is, to a signicant extent, governed by law and institutionalpolicy that specify ownership of these research outputs and the rights such ownership conveys.In the United States, copyright does not ax to purely factual information, but may governsharing and reuse of protectable elements in a dataset (selection, arrangement, databasedesign, and documentation) and software (original code, comments, and documentation).Moreover, institutional policy may establish that ownership of research data and softwarebelongs to the University, not the creator. Researchers may be obligated to cede control oftheir outputs to the University's technology transfer or legal counsel's oce. Additionally,research funding agencies may require, as a condition of awarding a grant, that outputs cre-ated with their support be disseminated in a particular manner.This conuence of circumstances leaves graduate students in a complex and confusing com-pliance framework requiring clear understanding and careful navigation of cascading re-quirements. As enrolled students, does their work fall under the institute's copyright policystatements? Are the textual components of their theses handled dierently than the asso-ciated research data and software? Is the research data and software they produce to fulllgraduation requirements owned by anyone? If so, who? And what rights and choices dostudents have to control, share, and invite reuse of their research?\n

Date

2016