Terms of Use of the Research Data Repository DataPublication.nrw
1 General Information
(1.1) The purpose of the cross-institutional and state-wide research data repository DataPublication.nrw is to make research data derived from completed scientific studies and projects publicly available and to provide a platform to deposit, curate, view and download research data.
(1.2) DataPublication.nrw is to be used for the publication of research data generated by researchers affiliated with publicly funded higher education institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and, where applicable, their cooperating institutions. In this respect, DataPublication.nrw provides services encompassing, but not limited to, uploading data, searching metadata and data records, viewing metadata and dataset information, assigning persistent identifiers, and supporting quality-assured publication workflows. All services provided by DataPublication.nrw support the implementation of the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).
(1.3) Access to published metadata and contact details of the data provider are available to anyone under a CC0 license. In contrast, depending on the chosen licenses and terms of use, the dataset content may be openly available, restricted, available only upon request or subject to additional criteria.
(1.4) DataPublication.nrw is operated as a cooperative service within the framework of the Digital University NRW (DH.NRW) and the Digitalisation Initiative of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The service is designed as a shared and scalable infrastructure for eligible higher education institutions in NRW.
(1.5) The use of DataPublication.nrw implies agreement with the applicable data protection policy, the relevant institutional IT regulations of the operating institution(s), and these Terms of Use. The currently designated operating institution and consortium partners are responsible for the provision of the DataPublication.nrw platform.
(1.6) Access to the service shall be granted to eligible publicly funded higher education institutions in NRW on a non-discriminatory basis and under formally equal conditions.
2 User Registration
(2.1) Each person wishing to deposit research data to DataPublication.nrw is required to register or authenticate via the provided identity management procedures. Persons authorized to set up and use an account are researchers or other authorized members affiliated with participating higher education institutions in NRW or approved cooperating institutions.
(2.2) Authentication may be performed through federated identity management systems such as DFN-AAI, IDM.nrw or equivalent institutional login procedures. Upon registration or first login, personal account data such as first name, last name, username, email address and institutional affiliation may be processed.
(2.3) In certain cases, for example upon the violation of these Terms of Use or activities that impair or stop the operation of the DataPublication.nrw services and infrastructure, the service provider reserves the right to revoke permissions to use the repository services.
(2.4) All actions in DataPublication.nrw performed using a given login and password or federated authentication are treated as actions performed by the authorized User.
(2.5) Registration data may only be edited by logging in to the User’s own account and making the appropriate changes, unless centrally managed by the identity provider.
3 User and Depositor Rights and Obligations
(3.1) Every User must ensure that their personal access data are sufficiently protected and cannot be obtained by unauthorized third parties. A transfer of login data to third parties without the agreement of the service provider is strictly prohibited. In case of any information about unauthorized use of login information or any security threat to the DataPublication.nrw system, the User is to immediately notify the service provider.
(3.2) Authorized Users of DataPublication.nrw may upload, modify or extend the content of the platform. In the following, such Users are referred to as “Depositors”.
(3.3) The service provider is not responsible for the content uploaded to DataPublication.nrw. Responsibility remains solely with the Depositors and, where applicable, their home institutions. Depositors must ensure that uploaded content complies with applicable law, ethical standards, institutional regulations and the rights of third parties.
(3.4) Data uploaded to DataPublication.nrw may not infringe any copyright, database right, trademark, personality right or other intellectual property or usage right. It is the Depositor’s duty to ensure that all required permissions, agreements and consents have been obtained before submission.
(3.5) Personal data may only be uploaded to DataPublication.nrw if there is an adequate legal basis and if the publication is permissible under applicable data protection law. Where personal data are processed as part of a scientific study, the Depositor must ensure before submission that such data are sufficiently anonymized or otherwise lawfully publishable and do not conflict with participant information, informed consent(s), contractual obligations or ethical requirements.
(3.6) Using or depositing any data in DataPublication.nrw may not:
(3.6.1) violate any law;
(3.6.2) be threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another person’s privacy or otherwise offensive or unlawful;
(3.6.3) constitute spam;
(3.6.4) introduce into the DataPublication.nrw repository or otherwise use computer viruses, malicious code, files or programs designed or intended to disrupt, damage, limit or interfere with the proper functioning of any software, hardware or telecommunication systems, or that are designed or intended to damage or gain unauthorized access to any system, data files or other information of the repository and its administrators;
(3.6.5) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the DataPublication.nrw platform;
(3.6.6) lead to the circumvention of any measures that the service provider may use to prevent or limit access to the repository or other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the DataPublication.nrw repository.
(3.7) Every dataset uploaded to DataPublication.nrw has to undergo a technical integrity check and review process that ensures sufficient metadata have been assigned to the dataset, a readme file or equivalent documentation is present where required, and the data are not corrupted. The service provider reserves the right to reject content that does not comply with basic metadata, documentation, accessibility, integrity or file format requirements.
(3.8) The mandatory, optional and subject-specific metadata fields upon publication in DataPublication.nrw are available to anyone under a CC0 license. The Depositor may publish the contents of the dataset under one of the licenses provided by the repository. Whenever possible, the service provider recommends granting a CC0 or a CC-BY 4.0 license for the data. Once a license has been issued for a published dataset, it cannot be revoked for already published versions.
(3.9) Upon the submission of data and metadata to DataPublication.nrw, the Depositor grants the service provider a royalty-free, irrevocable, transferable, non-exclusive, spatially and temporally unlimited right to use the content, including the abstract and the dataset metadata, for the purpose of operating, preserving, indexing, reproducing and providing the DataPublication.nrw services. This includes the right to make the uploaded abstract, compulsory metadata and author information publicly available.
(3.10) If the Depositor specified beforehand that data or project-specific metadata, partially or fully, are to be placed under embargo, closed or restricted access, such content shall not be made openly available to the public other than by the means specified by the Depositor and supported by the repository workflows.
(3.11) The service provider furthermore has the right to carry out all steps necessary to store the dataset in electronic databases, create preservation copies, migrate file formats where technically necessary for preservation purposes, and make the content long-term available to other users via appropriate digital transmission technologies.
(3.12) The service provider may delete, disable access to, or suspend some or all content uploaded to DataPublication.nrw without notice if there are concrete indications that the Depositor has violated these Terms of Use, applicable law, good scientific practice, ethical requirements or third-party rights.
4 Rights and Obligations of the Content User
(4.1) By downloading or otherwise using research content made available through DataPublication.nrw, the Content User is obliged to comply with the license terms and access conditions of the corresponding dataset as indicated in its metadata.
(4.2) The Content User is responsible for verifying whether further legal, ethical or disciplinary restrictions apply to the intended reuse of the downloaded research data.
5 Liability of the User and Limitation of Liability of the Operating Institution and Service Provider
(5.1) Liability of the User
(5.1.1) The User is liable for all disadvantages suffered by the operating institution, consortium partners or participating institutions through improper use or unlawful use of the DataPublication.nrw repository or when the User’s obligations arising from these Terms of Use are not complied with.
(5.1.2) The User is also liable for damages caused by third-party usage if the User is responsible for enabling such usage. This applies in particular when the User passes on their credentials to third parties. In this case the operating institution may also request reimbursement of any costs incurred through third-party usage.
(5.1.3) The User must indemnify the operating institution, consortium partners and participating institutions from all claims if third parties take legal action because of the User’s abusive or illegal behavior. The service provider will inform the User if third parties take legal action regarding the User where legally permissible.
(5.2) Limitation of liability of the operating institution and the service provider
(5.2.1) The operating institution and the service provider will not be liable to the User or any third party for any damage resulting from matters beyond their reasonable control. This applies in particular to damage resulting from the use of DataPublication.nrw due to:
(5.2.1.1) use, disclosure or display of user-generated content;
(5.2.1.2) the User’s misuse of or inability to use the service;
(5.2.1.3) general failures of the service, its software and systems that make the service available;
(5.2.1.4) unauthorized access to or tampering with User information and communications;
(5.2.1.5) statements or conduct of any third party on the service;
(5.2.1.6) all other user interactions that are entered or received through the usage of the service;
(5.2.1.7) all other matters related to the service.
(5.2.2) The operating institution and the service provider take no responsibility for the correctness, completeness, legality or failure-free functioning of the software and facilities provided, nor for the correctness, completeness, fitness for purpose or topicality of the uploaded content.
(5.2.3) Furthermore, the operating institution and the service provider are only liable in the event of intent and gross negligence on the part of their employees, unless there is a culpable violation of essential contractual obligations. In such a case, liability is limited to typical damage that was foreseeable when the user relationship was established, provided there was no intentional or grossly negligent action.
6 Further Terms
(6.1) The service provider and the User may terminate the user relationship at any time without the need to state a reason. The User may terminate the user relationship by discontinuing the use of the services via the DataPublication.nrw platform. Upon termination the User no longer has access to their user account and the unpublished contents in the User account. The service provider reserves the right to delete the account as well as unpublished uploaded contents.
(6.2) The termination of usage does not include the deletion of research contents of the User already published on the DataPublication.nrw platform. Exceptions apply only where removal is required for legal reasons, overriding rights, proven severe ethical violations or other compelling grounds recognized by applicable law and repository policy.
(6.3) DataPublication.nrw is intended as a sustainable state-wide infrastructure service. In case of termination, migration or discontinuation of the service, reasonable measures shall be taken to preserve access to published metadata and, where possible, to the associated research data, for example by migration, transfer, archival retention or static preservation access.
(6.4) The above listed Terms of Use are subject to change by the service provider at any time with effect for the future. Posting the updated Terms of Use on the DataPublication.nrw website is sufficient.
(6.5) Should any provision of these Terms of Use be or become ineffective, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
(6.6) These Terms of Use are governed by and construed under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
