Virginia Commonwealth University Rice Rivers Center Data Management Plan

Virginia Commonwealth University Rice Rivers Center Data Management Plan

Table of Contents Objectives... 2 VCU Rice Rivers Center Research Protocol... 2 VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Management Plan... 3 Data Submission... 3 Data Use agreement... 4 Acknowledgement of VCU Rice Rivers Center... 4 Disclaimer... 4 Protection... 5 Data Management Infrastructure... 5 Data Archiving and Data Access... 5 Preservation... 5 Transfer of Responsibility... 5 Violation of Terms of the Data Management Plan... 5 VCU Rice Rivers Center Research Request... 6 1

VCU Rice Rivers Data Management Plan The mission of the VCU Rice Rivers Center is to be internationally recognized for its academic programs focused on scientific research, education and public outreach, and for informing public policy related to river ecosystems, their watersheds and the conservation of species that inhabit those watersheds. Data and research management are integral components to fostering the Rice Rivers mission. To assist in the management of the Rice Rivers Center research and data, this plan outlines the objectives and processes proposed to ensure the research undertaken at the Rice Rivers Center can better serve our researchers and inform our world. Projects considered part of the VCU Rice Rivers Center include research: Conducted on all components of the VCU Rice Rivers Center property, including Meadowville Station Conducted by all faculty, staff and other personnel associated with the VCU Rice Rivers Center Associated with the VCU Rice Rivers Center and its programs and activities Receiving funding from VCU Rice Rivers Center That uses VCU Rice Rivers Center equipment An effective data management program will directly benefit the VCU Rice Rivers Center by increasing scientific productivity and enhancing the efficiency of site administration. Access to data and its documentation is intended to foster increased exchange of information among researchers as well as encourage scientists and students from outside VCU to compare observations from the Center to other sites worldwide. Objectives The objectives of the VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Management Plan are: To provide guidance to aid in managing the research data life cycle To assist students and researchers in their efforts to plan and conduct research at the VCU Rice Rivers Center To facilitate data access To promote innovation in science with the use of technology and resources available at the VCU Rice Rivers Center To provide opportunities to further the mission of the VCU Rice Rivers Center VCU Rice Rivers Center Research Protocol To conduct research at the VCU Rice Rivers Center, a Research Request Form (Appendix I) will be completed and submitted to the Rice Rivers Research and Data Coordinator (at s2jmcimi@vcu.edu or 804-827-0110). The form will include a project description as well as the proposed physical project site location. The form will be submitted to the Center s Research Evaluation team which will review the submittal and return a response to the requestor within 2 weeks of submittal. If the request is approved, the VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Manager will send the requesting researcher the Center s Data Management Plan Policy and Agreement. 2

VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Management Plan The Rice Rivers Data Management Plan is a plan outlining the following elements of the data life cycle: Types of data produced Data and metadata standards Policies for access and sharing Policies for re-use, distribution Data storage and preservation Any research conducted at the VCU Rice Rivers Center will need a data management plan created and submitted before research can begin. To aid in the development of a DMP, VCU Libraries DMPTool has a VCU Rice Rivers Center template that can be utilized for the creation of the plan. The DMP Tool is available at: http://guides.library.vcu.edu/dmptool. Other acceptable data management plans include any previously created plans submitted as part of the grant submittal process for research, as long as the plan covers the elements listed above. The researcher will complete and submit the Data Management Plan for the research project and signed policies to the Data Manager, who will log all pertinent information. At that time, research can commence. A short project description will be posted on the VCU Rice Rivers Center s web site under the research section to inform the public of current and ongoing projects being conducted at the center. Data Submission For the Rice Rivers Center, data will be defined as information collected for research purposes that will serve to enhance the greater knowledge base of the Rice Rivers Center research community. Specifically, data are defined as: Spatial location of site(s) Associated geospatial models and/or digital datasets of the research and site The VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Manager will contact the researcher as the research project end date approaches. After publication or 2 years since completion of research, the researcher is required to submit data and metadata to the data manager for archiving or the link to where the data will be archived. Please note that data submission is different from data access. Data access is to be outlined by the researcher as part of the research s Data Management Plan. It is the responsibility of individual investigators to provide their core geospatial data and metadata in digital format. Acceptable formats of geospatial data include shapefiles, geodatabases, raster files and/or ASCII text files. Accompanying FGDC metadata for each geospatial data layer and additional metadata for any other dataset, will be required as part of the data submission. Data are to be placed in the Rice Rivers Center Data Repository or another acceptable repository with access provided (determined by data access and sharing caveats of the researcher) as soon as it has been processed and not more than 2 years after data collection. Quality assurance and control is the responsibility of the data collector and is to be recorded in the data management plan. 3

Data Use agreement By downloading and using data collected under the auspices of the VCU Rice Rivers Center, the user agrees to the following responsibilities: 1. The user agrees not to sell or distribute any data provided by the center. 2. Any publications generated from the use of Rice Rivers Center data will include proper citation formatted as: Last name, First. YEAR. Title: XXXXXXX. VCU Rice Rivers Center, Charles City County, VA. 3. The user will provide any manuscripts resulting from use of the data for courtesy review by the PI at least 30 days before submitting it for publication. 4. The user will submit a digital copy or link of any manuscript that draws upon center data to the VCU Rice Rivers Center Data Manager 5. The PI retains all rights to data released to the public; ecological data sets are dynamic and may change over time. The VCU Rice Rivers Center and the PI(s) disclaim any responsibility for errors that may or may not exist within online data. 6. The user assumes all responsibility for errors in analysis or judgment associated with online data. 7. Violation of any of the terms of the Data User s Agreement will result in immediate forfeiture of the use of any data, as well as a complete loss of future access privileges to data collected by researchers associated with the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Acknowledgement of VCU Rice Rivers Center Published works including peer reviewed manuscripts, books and book chapters, and other peer reviewed datasets conducted by researchers that have benefited materially from Rice Rivers Center support, e.g. salary, equipment, grants, scholarship, site access, shall acknowledge the Center by referencing a VCU Rice Rivers Center contribution number in the acknowledgements section of the manuscript or document. Faculty and other researchers who are affiliated with the RRC are encouraged to consider submitting other scholarly works as appropriate for a Rice Rivers Center contribution number. Contribution numbers can be obtained from the Rice Rivers Center Data and Research Coordinator. Contribution numbers are to be cited as follows This is VCU Rice Rivers Center Contribution Number xxx. Disclaimer For any data that are to be distributed with online access, including meteorological data, geographic information systems data, imagery, etc., a disclaimer/users agreement must be acknowledged. The user of these data should be aware that, while efforts have been taken to ensure that these data are of the highest quality, the VCU Rice Rivers Center makes no claim as to the accuracy of the data. 4

Protection Data submitted to the VCU Rice Rivers Center will fall into one of two categories. These categories strive to ensure the protection of privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property. Type I data can be made available to the public under the terms of the Data Policy and Agreement. These data can be viewed and queried and when appropriate, downloaded. Type II data fall under specific use agreement issues, whether the data are part of an ongoing research project, are not ready for publication, are protected species datasets, etc. These datasets may be governed by individual researcher data management plan. Data Management Infrastructure The Center for Environmental Studies maintains servers that run internet mapping and database integration applications. CES currently maintains their data and the Rice Rivers Center data using industry standard Microsoft SQL Server for the biological databases and enterprise geodatabases for storage of spatial data. Data Archiving and Data Access The servers and databases that support the VCU Rice Rivers Center will be backed up on a nightly basis using Tivoli, VCU UCC s enterprise backup manager from IBM. Preservation Data will be preserved in accessible form for two years on the VCU Rice Rivers Open Data Portal site, at which time the project description alone will stay on the site. Geospatial data will be archived. Data that are associated with an on-going research project and data considered to be base data for the VCU Rice Rivers Center will be remain on the Rice Rivers Center Open Data Portal site. Transfer of Responsibility It is the responsibility of individual researchers to maintain and store their own copies of all original research and data. The VCU Rice Rivers Center does not operate as a long term data storage solution for researchers. If, however, a researcher determines that the datasets would serve the Center s mission and long term goals, and wishes to transfer ownership of data to the Center, the Center will review the proposal to accept and store the dataset. Violation of Terms of the Data Management Plan Failure to abide by all terms of this Data Management Plan, including terms associated with the request for conducting research at the center, use of center data, and submission of data to the center, may result in the exclusion of the individual from conducting further research at the center. 5

VCU Rice Rivers Center Research Request Background Information Researcher Name: Last First M.I. Research Institution Name and Department: Address: Street Address Unit # City State ZIP Code Office Phone: ( ) E-mail Address: VCU eid: PI Researcher (if different) PI VCU eid Project Information Project Title: Brief Description of Proposed Project or attach Project Description when submitting this form: Is this project part of an ongoing project or a continuation of a former Rice Center project? Yes No 6

If yes, name of affiliated project: If yes, name of project PI: Last First MI Project Start Date: Project End Date (Estimate if necessary with month and year): Requested location for project research to be conducted on the VCU RRC property (include map, lat / long and / or description of location, include bounding extent of study area): Describe any geographic constraints or compatibility issues the location of your project may have with other on the ground research: If your study involves observing or handling vertebrate animals have you obtained the appropriate Animal Care and Use Committee [IUCUC] permits as well as any required state and Federal permits or licenses (e.g. bird banding, endangered and threatened species permits, etc.). If yes please provide permit and license numbers: 7