Data Liability and Access Policies

Data Liability and Access Policies for the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEA-COOS)

The protocols for data ownership, custodial liability, data submission and data access have been developed in accordance with known Federal guidelines and/or standards for environmental data collection activities.

Data Liability Policy for the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System

The dataset enclosed within this package/transmission are only as good as the quality assurance and quality control procedures outlined by the enclosed metadata reporting statement. The user bears all responsibility for its subsequent use/misuse in any further analyses or comparisons. The United States Federal Government and SEA-COOS associated partners do not assume liability to the Recipient or third persons, nor will the Federal Government and SEA-COOS associated partners indemnify the Recipient for its liability due to any losses resulting in any way from the use of this dataset.

Metadata Dissemination Policy for the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System

This dataset was provided under the Office of Naval Research supported Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System initiative. The principal investigator (PI) and/or institution listed in the enclosed metadata reporting statement retains the right to be fully credited for having collected and processed the data. Following academic courtesy standards, the PI/institution and the SEA-COOS initiative should be fully acknowledged in any subsequent publications in which any part of this dataset is used. Pursuant to Federal guidance, manuscripts resulting from this federally-supported research and data collection effort that are produced for publication in open literature, including refereed scientific journals, shall acknowledge that the research was conducted under an award from the Office of Naval Research under Grant number N00014-02-1-0972.

Data Ownership and Dissemination Policy for the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System

Data collected in conjunction with and made available by SEA-COOS is considered public information. The principal investigators (PIs) responsible for collecting data under SEA-COOS and associated programs must process the data using approved quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) protocols.

Specific unpublished intellectual property (i.e., processed data) owned and developed by the recipient with Federal assistance funds, will not be officially disseminated to the public for a period of one (1) year from the date of data processing. After one (1) year the SEA-COOS will make the intellectual property officially available to the general public via the Internet. However, if data are requested pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, the Government is required to release any data that are transferred to the Government by the recipient under the award.

An awardee may own a copyright on the publication of the processed data developed or bought under a Federal assistance award. The Federal awarding agency reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use, for Federal government purposes, the copyright in any work developed under an award, or any rights of copyright purchased by an awardee with Federal assistance support (15 C.F.R. 24.34). Any such publication will include a notice identifying the award and recognizing the license rights of the government under this clause. This paragraph will have no force and effect for the processed data not published by the recipient.

The SEA-COOS retains the right to analyze, synthesize and publish summaries of the SEA-COOS data. The PI/institution retains the right to be fully credited for having collected and processed the data. Following academic courtesy standards, the PI/institution and SEA-COOS office will be contacted and fully acknowledged in any subsequent publications in which any part of the data is used. Manuscripts resulting from this Office of Naval Research supported research that are produced for publication in open literature, including refereed scientific journals, will acknowledge that the research was conducted under an award from the Office of Naval Research under Grant number N00014-02-1-0972.