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Data Repository for U of M Data Repository for U of M

DRUM Policies and Terms of Use

Housed within the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, the Data Repository for U of M (DRUM) is subject to the policies of the Digital Conservancy and, in addition, include the following. Note: Policies and Terms are subject to change.

Policies related to DEPOSIT of Materials in DRUM

Policies related to USE of Materials Available in DRUM

Guidelines related to DEPOSIT of Materials in DRUM

Data Collection Policy (what we accept)

The Data Repository for U of M is run by the University Libraries and accepts research data at no cost that meet the following collection criteria:

  • Data must be authored by at least one University of Minnesota researcher with an active U of M Internet ID.
  • Data must be non-restricted data that DO NOT contain any private, confidential, or other legally protected information (e.g., personal identifiable information). See the University Policy on Data Security Classifications. See the Human Participant Data Policy if you are uploading data collected from or about humans.
  • Data must be deposited for open access -- this means that visitors to the Data Repository site may download and reuse your data. Data that is not suitable for reuse should not be shared in the Data Repository. Authors will have the option of restricting access for a maximum of two years (see End-user Access Policy).
  • Data are digital. Larger data files are considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us to discuss larger data sets.
  • Data must include adequate documentation describing the nature of the data at an appropriate level for purposes of reuse and discovery. All data receive curatorial review and data that are incomplete or not ready for reuse may not be accepted in to the repository.
  • The data should be in a final publishable state.
  • Data should consist of original and/or unique data that cannot be easily acquired elsewhere.
  • It is the responsibility of individuals who are uploading data to make sure that they have the necessary rights or permissions to share any materials they did not themselves generate. Most University of Minnesota researchers will have the necessary rights to share materials that they generated, under the University policies on Copyright Ownership and Research Data Management: Archiving, Ownership, Retention, Security, Storage, and Transfer.
  • Data, portions of data, or accompanying documentation that contain copyrightable materials (e.g. text, images, video, audio, etc) that did not originate with the depositor may present significant legal issues for deposit and sharing. Data that contain such third-party copyrightable materials may be subject to additional curatorial review, and/or may not be accepted into the repository.

Larger or out-of-scope data may be considered for projects with federal grant funding requirements. Please contact the Data Repository with specific inquiries.

Data that do not meet our collection criteria will not be accepted into DRUM, or may be subject to removal after publication.

Human Participant Data Policy

Data involving human participants will be subject to additional review to ensure that it meets our requirements for public sharing. Data that we determine is insufficiently de-identified or which has not properly consented participants to the sharing of individual-level data in a public repository may be rejected from DRUM, or may be subject to removal after acceptance.

See our Human Participant Data Guidelines for details.

End-User Access Policy (how people can use your material)

The Data Repository is an open access repository and makes collection holdings freely available, worldwide. Data authors may choose to make their data openly available immediately, or temporarily delay access to data until after an embargo period has passed.

  • Open Data (default): These data are available for immediate download. Users may contact the author with questions regarding the data. Authors may choose to apply a Creative Commons license to their data, which will give users certainty that they do not need permission for any uses allowed by the license. However, even without a Creative Commons license, users will be able to download and use data - subject to the DRUM Terms of Use.
  • Embargo: In some cases, an author may choose to restrict access to their work, for up to 2 years. Access to these files will not be granted until after the embargo period has expired and the data are fully open to the public.

Preservation Policy (how we will keep your material)

The Data Repository accepts data files in all digital formats, however, digital preservation support will be provided at different levels for specific formats as specified in the UDC preservation policy. In order to meet various compliance requirements, and to support the use of data for scholarship, the data housed in the Repository will be preserved at the appropriate level for at least 10 years following acceptance. Criteria for longer preservation periods will be established in accordance with University policy on research data management. Published data that is found to violate UDC or DRUM policy can be removed by the repository administrators at any time in accordance with the UDC withdrawal policy.

Human Participant Data Guidelines

If you are uploading human participant data:

  • You will be asked to provide the consent form, information sheet, or other participant agreement.
  • A Digital Conservancy curator will evaluate the submission for the following criteria:
    • The dataset has been de-identified by removing direct and indirect identifiers. A Digital Conservancy curator may make further de-identification recommendations.
    • The consent form, information sheet, or other participant agreement should not contain any language that restricts sharing data. Examples of restrictive language include:
      • "Data will only be shared in aggregate."
      • "Data will only be seen by the research team."
      • “Data will be destroyed.”
    • The consent form, information sheet, or other participant agreement should explicitly state that data will be shared at the individual level and that data will be shared publicly (anyone on the Internet can access the data). Please note that “records” are not equivalent to data.
  • If the dataset does not meet the above criteria, a Digital Conservancy curator will evaluate the language in the consent form versus potential harm caused by sharing without participants’ knowledge. See evaluation rubric below:
    • If the data is not at all sensitive in nature and clearly de-identified, the curator will likely accept the dataset into DRUM and share resources for best practices for the future.
      • Consent form language consultation (e.g., clear data sharing language, altering UMN templates, etc.)
      • Data sharing information sheet for full transparency with research participants
    • If the data is sensitive or unable to be de-identified, the curator will recommend participant re-consent or redirect to another repository that allows for restricted access to the data.
    • If a researcher or research team continues to submit datasets that have not acquired appropriate consent after two educational opportunities that led to acceptance of the data into DRUM, the Digital Conservancy reserves the right to reject the data. We will make recommendations for alternative repositories that allow for restricted access to the data.
    • If a Certificate of Confidentiality is mentioned in the consent form, the language about data sharing in DRUM would need to be very explicit or the dataset will be rejected. We will make recommendations for alternative repositories that allow for restricted access to the data.
  • Contact us before you start your submission to ensure that your consent form, information sheet, or other participant agreement aligns with open data sharing practices.

Deposit License

When authors submit data to the Data Repository, they agree to the following:

By depositing this Content (“Content”) in the University Digital Conservancy (“Digital Conservancy”), I agree that I am solely responsible for any consequences of uploading this Content to the Digital Conservancy and making it publicly available, and I represent and warrant that:

  • I am either the sole creator and the owner of the copyrights and all other rights in the Content; or, without obtaining another’s permission, I have the right to deposit the Content in an archive such as the Digital Conservancy.
  • To the extent that any portions of the Content are not my own creation, they are used with the copyright holder’s express permission or as permitted by law. Additionally, the Content does not infringe the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of another, nor does the Content violate any laws or another’s rights of privacy or publicity.
  • The Content contains no restricted, private, confidential, or otherwise protected data or information that should not be publicly shared.

I understand that the Digital Conservancy will do its best to provide perpetual access to my Content. In order to support these efforts, I grant the Regents of the University of Minnesota ("University"), through its Digital Conservancy, the following non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, world-wide rights and licenses:

  • to access, reproduce, distribute and publicly display the Content, in whole or in part, in order to secure, preserve and make it publicly available, and
  • to make derivative works based upon the Content in order to migrate the Content to other media or formats, or to preserve its public access.

These terms do not transfer ownership of the copyright(s) in the Content. These terms only grant to the University the limited license outlined above.

Terms of Use

Conditions

Authors who share their data here expect that it will be re-used to some degree. Users are expected to abide by the University of Minnesota Acceptable Use Policy, and other University policies, where applicable. However, by using or downloading the data, you signify your agreement to the conditions of use stated below:

  • The user will not make any use of data to identify or otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals discovered inadvertently or intentionally in the data.
  • The user will give appropriate attribution to the author(s) of the data in any publication that employs resources provided by the Data Repository.
  • If your use or publication requires permission, you must contact the authors directly; administrators of the Data Repository cannot respond to requests for permission.

Disclaimer

Data are offered with no warranty or claim of fitness for any purpose. In no event shall the University be liable for any actual, incidental or consequential damages arising from use of these files. The Data Repository is intended to facilitate data sharing and the University of Minnesota Libraries staff are available to assist users with finding, accessing, and downloading the data. However, Libraries staff are limited in our ability to assist with using, analyzing, or understanding the data, and requests of this nature should be directed first to the author(s) of the data.