Overview of the Public Access Plan

The United States Department of Transportation

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The United States Department of

Transportation Public Access Plan

is still under development and is

subject to change. The following

presentation is an overview of the

proposed plan and the likely

impacts on researchers.

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• USDOT PLAN – The plan is a framework to ensure the Department achieves the memorandum requirements. Implementation details are intentionally being left for each mode to determine in order to allow for the minimum necessary changes to their existing internal policies and procedures to achieve the requirements

• PROSPECTIVE – The plan DOES NOT address funding agreements existing prior to its implementation unless significant changes to funding or scope of work are implemented

December 31, 2015 is USDOT’s anticipated implementation date.

PUBLICATIONS

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GOOD NEWS: • Most publications arising from DOT-funded scientific

research are already made freely available to the public

• Per MAP-21, NTL is required to become the federal repository for all Department research information and a clearinghouse for all Government transportation research information

CHALLENGE: Principal DOT weakness is availability of peer-reviewed, “scholarly” publications (i.e., journal articles) whether created by intramural or extramural researcher

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PublicationsIncludes:• any written deliverable funded, fully or partially,

through a DOT-managed contract, grant, or other funding agreement

• any intramural technical or final reports; and• all final accepted manuscripts

Does Not Include:• theses or dissertations; or• any final journal articles

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Solution

• All internally generated scientific research reports, technical papers, publications, etc. must be accessible by NTL (direct upload or via metadata file including link to document)

• All externally generated scientific research written deliverables must be accessible by NTL (direct upload or via metadata file including link to document)

• To protect journal publishers business models, all final accepted manuscripts will be embargoed from public disclosure for a period of 12 months

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What about Copyrights?• 48 CFR 52.227-14(c)(3) “Rights in Data - General”

provides for a Government Purpose License Right (GPLR) to “recorded information, regardless of form or the media on which it may be recorded” first produced in the performance of a contract

• Plan recommendation – As a condition of all funding agreements, require acknowledgement by recipient of a non-exclusive, non-transferrable, paid-up, royalty free copyright license to all written materials prepared and all data used or collected during the performance of the agreement to the Government

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DIGITAL DATA SETS

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Existing Obligations Regarding Data

• OMB Memorandum M-10-06 (Open Government Directive) - Directs Executive agencies to “publish information online in an open format”

• OMB Memorandum M-13-13 – “requires agencies to collect or create information in a way that supports downstream information processing and dissemination activities,” and requires an inventory of “agency information resources … acquired or accessed by an agency through the performance of a contract” or financial assistance agreement

• DOT Data Release Policy (DOT Order 1351.34)

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GOOD NEWS:• Through efforts of DOT Chief Data Officer many of the

requirements of the OSTP memorandum and the other requirements are being or are beginning to be satisfied

• Some intramural DOT research programs disseminate digital data as a matter of business

• DOT has some experience requiring extramural researchers to disseminate digital data through the ITS program

CHALLENGE: We do not yet make all data publicly available and in the past, we generally have not required dissemination of the data sets supporting written deliverables. DOT must increase its focus on this requirement

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Digital Data Sets

Applies to:• All scientific data first generated or collected through

research projects funded, either fully or partially, by federal Government funds whether generated by intramural or extramural researchers

Protections still apply for:• Data Sets restricted due the inclusion of national/homeland

security, individual privacy, or confidential business information or other protected information• Note: All unclassified data sets must still be acknowledged

and inventoried in the DOT Public Data Set Listing

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Digital Data Sets (cont.)Intramural Research Data

• DOT’s Data Release Policy remains the governing document for internal DOT research data management

• Requires submission and approval of a Data Management Plan (DMP) before research begins

• Evaluation and approval of DMP (i.e., determination of whether to retain data set and for how long) remains with the respective OA

• Unless classified data set must be acknowledged and inventoried on DOT Public Data Set Listing even if discarded after project completion

• Will require update to OA capabilities (e.g., generation of unique Digital Object Identifier for each data set)

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Digital Data Sets (cont.)

Extramural Research Data• Requires submission from and DOT approval of a Data

Management Plan (DMP) from all funds recipients before research begins

• Evaluation and approval of all DMPs (i.e., determination of whether or not to retain data set, for how long, where and whether or not such location allows for public access) remains with the respective OA

• Unless classified data set must be acknowledged and inventoried on DOT Public Data Set Listing even if discarded after project completion

• Funding OA required to allow for inclusion of costs for data management and access in research proposals

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Data Management Plan (DMP)

• Researchers, intramural and extramural, will be required to propose their strategy to deposit Digital Data Sets in a repository that enables and allows for public access. This is an effort to better understand data dissemination and preservation requirements before the research begins

• DMPs are required for all data sets regardless of sensitivity. DMPs related to data sets restricted for containing national/homeland security, privacy, or confidential business information must still be inventoried and must disclose proposed access controls to data set

• All DMPs must be reviewed and approved by a designated representative of the funding organization before the research begins

• A template DMP will be made available

ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE

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Enforcement and ComplianceDOT is required to ensure enforcement of the Public Access plan requirements and measure funding recipient compliance. DOT is also required to report measured compliance metrics to OSTP

Compliance Mechanism• Funding recipients will be responsible for ensuring that research

project descriptions are submitted to TRB’s Research-in-Progress (RiP) database, updated over the duration of the research, and marked “completed” when the research project is concluded

• Under existing protocols, RiP records are synched with project records in the USDOT Research Hub

• The USDOT Research Hub will be used to provide links between publications and digital data sets

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Compliance Mechanism (cont.)• DOT will retrieve reports from TRB’s TRID Index for any

records matching funding agreement numbers and unique IDs for comparison to Research Hub records

• Discrepancies in TRID and Research Hub records of submitted publications will be noted and reported to the appropriate parties

Enforcement Mechanism• Failure to fully satisfy all terms of previous awards, including

publication and DMP requirements, will be taken into consideration in evaluating future research proposals

RESEARCHER RESPONSIBILITIES

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Awardees and Their Institutions• Ensure compliance with all requirements of the DOT

Public Access Plan.

• Ensure that sub-awardees, co-researchers and co-authors are aware of and in compliance with the DOT Public Access Plan.

• Ensure all terms and conditions of awards are met, including the submission of all requirements, including a DMP, progress reports to TRB’s RiP database, all publications, and all final data that arise in whole or in part with funding received through a DOT-managed contract, grant or other agreement.

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Principal Investigators• Ensure that all rights under copyright are non-exclusively

licensed to DOT.

• Ensure that any agreed to terms and conditions for a peer-reviewed journal publication do not impair the obligation of the author(s) to comply with the DOT Public Access Plan requirement for a copyright license.

• Ensure submission and maintenance of all required project records in TRB’s RiP database.

• Comply with DOT and funding organization guidance to ensure compliance with this plan.

SAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION

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Incorporating Public Access into the Research Process: An Overview

Perform ResearchPackageResearch

Submit ResearchProposal

Follow data management practices in approved DMP

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Submit research description and updates to TRB’s Research in Progress (RiP) database

Obtain ORCID ID for each researcher

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Include and obtain

approval of DMP

Submit final data

to identified repository including

ORCID ID and

funding agreement

number

Submit Research

to DOT

Submit publication with ORCID

ID and funding

agreement number

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THANK YOU

Upon completion of DOT’s Public Access Plan, it will be posted to the Department’s main webpage.

Stay Tuned