Definition
Data authors are
| “ | the individuals involved in research, education, or other activities that generate digital data that are subsequently deposited in a data collection.[1] | ” |
Overview
"The interests of the data authors — the scientists, educators, students, and others involved in research that produces digital data — lie in ensuring that they enjoy the benefits of their own work, including gaining appropriate credit and recognition, and that their results can be broadly disseminated and safely archived. In pursuing these interests, the data authors have the following responsibilities:
- conform to community standards for recording data and metadata that adequately describe the context and quality of the data and help others find and use the data;
- allow free and open access to data consistent with accepted standards for proper attribution and credit, subject to fair opportunity to exploit the results of one’s own research and appropriate legal standards for protecting security, privacy and intellectual property rights;
- conform to community standards for the type, quality, and content of data, including associated metadata, for deposition in relevant data collections;
- meet the requirements for data management specified in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with funding agencies; and
- develop and continuously refine a data management plan that describes the intended duration and migration path of the data.
Robust, comprehensive, and broadly endorsed and disseminated community standards are crucial to the ability of authors to meet these responsibilities. Thus, active support for the development of community standards is an important policy goal."[2]