Data depositor agreement

Data Depositor’s Declaration

I am the Data Steward for a Project conducted at the University and wish to deposit the Dataset generated in the course of that Project that support the research findings of the Project.

By depositing the Dataset in the Data Repository:

1.1 I confirm that the University has the right to present the Dataset in the Data Repository;

1.2 I warrant that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, either the University is the sole rights owner of the Dataset or the University is authorised by any rights holder(s) (whether third parties or exceptionally employees or staff) to:

1.2.1 deposit the Dataset in the Data Repository;

1.2.2 exercise the rights set out in paragraphs 2.1 to 2.6 (inclusive); and

1.2.3 exercise all other rights in respect of the Dataset which are described in paragraph 1.3 below.

1.3 I grant the University a non-exclusive royalty free licence (with the right to sub-license) to make the copyright works and other intellectual property owned by me and/or co-investigators in the Dataset available to members of the general public in accordance with their applicable rights of Access under any of the licences listed below. (Where ownership of the copyright works and other intellectual property in the Dataset vests in me and other co-investigators, I warrant I am granting this licence both for myself and on behalf of each co-investigator and that I am duly authorised by the co-investigators to grant such licence).

List of Licences (paragraph 1.3)

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
• Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives (BY-ND)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND)
• National Archives Open Government Licence (OGL)
• MIT License
• GNU General Public License (GPLv3)
• Apache License 2.0

1.4 I warrant that I have duly specified (to the extent applicable) any:

1.4.1 embargo period to which Access to the whole or any specified parts of the Dataset is subject; and

1.4.2 Restrictions which apply to the whole or part of the Dataset in the Metadata record for the Dataset.

1.5 I warrant that:

1.5.1 the Dataset, its storage and management, and Access to the Dataset are not in conflict with any aspect of the Data Protection Act 1998, or any statutory re-enactment thereof, and that the Dataset is not subject to any obligations of confidentiality. Where the Dataset concerns human subjects, I have obtained written, informed consent from participants for data retention and/or sharing as appropriate. I confirm that all necessary steps have been taken to safeguard the rights to privacy of individuals involved in the research where explicit permission to share non-anonymised data has not been granted;

1.5.2 the Dataset is original and does not contain any defamatory material or false or misleading research results and that neither the Dataset nor its use in accordance with this Agreement will violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any third party. In the event that the Dataset contains material that is copyright or confidential information of a third party, I have either secured permission from the rights-holder or his/her representative to include such material in the Dataset or I am satisfied (in the case of copyright) that the use of such copyright material is permitted by law. Any third party materials for which I have not secured the necessary permissions have been removed from the Dataset before deposit. I accept full responsibility for any breach of copyright, confidentiality, legal or ethical considerations that distributing the Dataset (in whole or in part) may entail;

1.5.3 the content of the Dataset does not breach any law and that any concerns over the suitability of the Dataset for sharing for this or any of the above reasons have been discussed with Data Repository administrators or colleagues in Research and Enterprise or the Governance Services Unit ahead of deposit;

1.5.4 (if the Dataset has been commissioned, sponsored, supported by or developed in collaboration with any organisation) I have fulfilled all of the obligations required by the contract(s) or agreement(s) regarding such collaboration and that the deposit of, and provisions for Access to, the Dataset as set out in this Agreement do not and will not breach any such obligations;

1.6 Depositing the Dataset in the Data Repository does not affect the ownership of the Documentation or intellectual property (including confidentiality) contained therein. I retain, among other things, the right to deposit a copy of any item within the Dataset elsewhere in its present or future version(s). I and my co-investigators assert and retain any moral rights (but only if and to the extent that such rights exist and have not been waived) in any scholarly output within the Dataset including the right to be acknowledged;

1.7 I have read and understand the University’s Research Data Management Policy and guidelines for archiving and sharing data available from: https://www.salford.ac.uk/library/open-research/open-data/research-data-management

1.8 If there is any Restriction on Access by the general public to and/or storage or arrangement of the Dataset then, in addition to my obligations under paragraphs 1.4 and 1.5.3 above, I will notify the nature of this Restriction when depositing the Dataset in the Data Repository in accordance with stated instructions;

1.8.1 I do not guarantee that the Dataset is accurate;

1.9 I have described and undertake that I will describe, in a Data Access Statement, the terms on which the Dataset may be accessed in any publication relating to the Project;

1.10 To the best of my knowledge and belief I have provided sufficient Published Metadata to ensure that the Dataset is discoverable and sufficient explanatory documentation to ensure that the Dataset is understandable and reusable.

1.11 I shall neither upload to the Data Repository, nor post a link on the Data Repository to, any of the following types of material:

1.11.1 abusive, offensive, obscene or pornographic material;

1.11.2 a false and defamatory statement about any person and/or organisation;

1.11.3 material which is criminally discriminatory, harassing, derogatory or may cause embarrassment to the University, Data Repository or any third party who from time to time has responsibility for it;

1.11.4 confidential or commercially sensitive information that I do not have express authority to disseminate;

1.11.5 any other statement which is likely to create any liability (whether criminal or civil, and whether for the University, the Data Repository or any third party who from time to time has responsibility for it);

1.11.6 chain mail or junk mail;

1.11.7 material in breach of copyright or any other intellectual property rights, or which invades the privacy of any person; or

1.11.8 material which facilitates criminal activity, or which is in breach of any laws which are from time to time applicable to the Data Repository or any Dataset, and the rules, regulations and orders, etc. issued thereunder.

1.12 I shall not:

1.12.1 interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, the proper operation of the Data Repository or attempt to gain, or encourage others to gain, unauthorised access to the Data Repository;

1.12.2 sell, lease, license, assign, transfer, distribute or otherwise charge or encumber or commercially exploit the Data Repository or any part thereof, save as expressly permitted by this Agreement;

1.12.3 misuse the Data Repository (including by hacking or by knowingly or negligently introducing viruses (which, for these purposes, include any thing or device (including any software, code, file or programme) which may prevent, impair or otherwise adversely affect the operation of any computer software, hardware, network, telecommunications service, equipment or any other thing, service or device); or

1.12.4 use the Data Repository in breach of all or any laws which are from time to time applicable to it or the Dataset, and the rules, regulations and orders, etc. issued thereunder.

1.13 I shall keep the access details which are issued to me secret and shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorised or fraudulent use of them and shall not disclose them to, or share them with, any third party without prior authorisation from the issuer of such access details.

Permissions granted to the University

The University (acting through the Data Repository) shall own copyright (or shall obtain the appropriate third party licence) in respect of any additional user guides, Documentation or software created to assist users in using the Dataset, created by University staff or on behalf of the University. The University shall also have the right to:

2.1 incorporate Metadata (description data about the item) or Documentation into public access catalogues for the Dataset. This will include Metadata on any Access Restrictions notified in accordance with 1.8 above. A Metadata citation to the Dataset will always remain visible;

2.2 distribute or otherwise make available copies of the Dataset (including the Metadata) worldwide, in electronic format or via any other medium for the purpose of Access without charge (except that the University may charge for the costs of any physical media on which the Dataset is provided);

2.3 translate or re-format the Dataset as it sees fit.

The rights at 2.1-2.3 above are subject to any Restrictions which continue to have effect after publication of the Dataset and which I have expressly notified to the Data Repository at the time of deposit.

Additionally, the University may:

2.4. create persistent identifiers (such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)) to provide a persistent link to the Dataset in the Data Repository or any other data catalogue or resource;

2.5. electronically store, migrate, copy, or re-arrange the Dataset to ensure its future Preservation and accessibility, unless and until notified by the Depositor that specific Restrictions apply; and

2.6. at any time, migrate the Dataset or sub-license all the contents of the Dataset to a repository other than the Data Repository, which (for the avoidance of doubt) may be controlled by a person other than the University (subject-based, institutional or other) on condition that all Metadata are migrated with the Dataset and that the new repository shall continue to grant Access to the Dataset on the same terms as set out in this Agreement without charge (except that the University may charge for the costs of any physical media on which the Dataset is provided).

Responsibilities of the University

I acknowledge that:

3.1. while all due care will be taken to preserve the physical integrity of the Dataset and all virtual copies thereof, the University shall incur no liability in respect of the Dataset or for the loss of or damage to any of the Dataset or associated documentation or other loss or damage related to the Dataset and its contents and omissions and/or use by or damage caused to any person relating to the Dataset, and the University hereby excludes all such liability whether under contract law, statute, express or implied terms or negligence (other than for negligence causing personal injury or death) to the fullest extent permissible by law;

3.2. the Data Repository will clearly identify the name(s) of the creator(s) or rights-holder(s) of the Dataset as specified in the Metadata, and the University will not, other than with the express consent of the Data Steward (or if they have left the University another person nominated to fulfil such role), make any alteration, other than as allowed by this licence, to the Dataset;

3.3. where persistent identifiers have been created for a Dataset in the Data Repository, these will be maintained in perpetuity, or until such point as they are fully transferred to another repository;

3.4. the University shall not be under any obligation to take legal action in the event of breach of intellectual property rights or any other right in the Dataset but shall be permitted to take down and or remove from any Dataset or from Access any material that is subject to a claim by any third party that its incorporation within the Dataset infringes intellectual property or otherwise constitutes breach;

3.5. the University shall not be under any obligation to reproduce, transmit, broadcast, or display the Dataset in the same format or software as that in which it was originally created.

Disclaimer

I deposit the Dataset in the knowledge that the University accepts no responsibility for mistakes, omissions, or legal infringements within the Dataset. While every care will be taken to Preserve the Dataset, the University is not liable for loss or damage to the Dataset or any other data while it is stored in the Data Repository (or any repository to which the Dataset is subsequently migrated, as indicated above).

I acknowledge that any serious breach of this Agreement may amount to misconduct which may give rise to disciplinary proceedings against me.

Definitions

In this Agreement the following words and phrases have the following meanings:

“Access”: means making the Dataset available with or without Restriction, either online or by other means.

“Agreement”: means this document including all of its terms and conditions.

“Data Repository”: means the University of Salford Data Repository and any other systems used by the University to catalogue, manage and share Datasets now or in the future (whether or not such Repository or systems are controlled by the University or a third party).

“Dataset”: means a set of files containing Research Data, Metadata (including Published Metadata) and Documentation.

“Data Steward”/“Depositor”: means the person who is the most senior University researcher associated with the Project to which the deposited Dataset relates or his/her nominated and authorised representative, who has taken responsibility for submitting the Dataset to the Data Repository.

“Documentation”: means any digital files such as a codebook, technical report or methodology, which explain the Research Data's production, structure or use.

“Metadata”: descriptive or contextual information that is associated with publications and data to assist in the identification, location and retrieval of it by users, while facilitating content and access management.

“Preserve”/“Preservation”: means the care and management of the Dataset over a defined period of time to ensure its ongoing availability and associated actions taken on the Dataset at review points and at the point of disposal.

“Project”: any funded or unfunded programme of research led by an academic member of staff or a post-graduate research student of the University.

“Published Metadata”: means the subset of Metadata that are published openly in the Data Repository under a Creative Commons CC0 licence, meaning they are freely reusable without attribution.

“Research Data”: Research Data are quantitative information or qualitative statements collected by researchers in the course of their work by experimentation, observation, interview or other methods. Data may be raw or primary (e.g. direct from measurement or collection) or derived from primary data for subsequent analysis or interpretation (e.g. cleaned up or as an extract from a larger data set). The purpose of open research data is to provide the information necessary to support or validate a research project's observations, findings or outputs. Data may include, for example, statistics, collections of digital images, sound recordings, transcripts of interviews, survey data and fieldwork observations with appropriate annotations.

“Restriction”: means a limitation on Access to the whole or any part of the Dataset so that it is not freely and openly downloadable. (Where any part of the Dataset is subject to Restrictions, information regarding access arrangements must be notified to the Data Repository under paragraph 1.8 above).

“University”: means the University of Salford.

 

Contact information

library-research@salford.ac.uk