As revised 4th March 2000 - Bern
The following protocols for the database were discussed and agreed by the Advisory Board at its meeting in Bern. In the event that additional changes are necessary in the future, all database contributors and users will be notified and the changes will be published in the Newsletter. The current protocol will also be distributed with any data transferred from the EPD to a user.
A. Data
1. Data must consist of the original counts, not percentages or digitized
data.
2. The database must contain the original taxonomic identifications, with
exceptions of exact nomenclatural synonymy. As primary entries, taxa will not
be lumped into higher taxonomic groups in the database. For practical reasons,
higher-level hierarchies will exist within the database in two ways; the first
will be according to pollen morphology, the second according to plant taxonomy.
3. Data will be classified as restricted or unrestricted. All data will be
available in the EPD, although restricted data can be used only as provided
below.
4. Unrestricted data are available for all uses, and are included in the EPD
portion of the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology and the EPD portion of
the Global Pollen Database, which are distributed from various electronic sites
globally.
5. Restricted data may be used only by permission of the data originator.
Appropriate and ethical use of restricted data is the responsibility of the
data user.
6. Restrictions on data will expire three years after they are submitted to the
EPD. Just prior to the time of expiration, the data originator will be contacted
by staff of the EPD with a reminder of the pending change. The originator may
extend restricted status for further periods of three years by so informing the
EPD each time a three-year period expires.
B. Contributors
1. Can declare data unrestricted or restricted, but are strongly encouraged to
provide data in unrestricted form so as to allow widespread use.
2. Can ask to verify that data in the database are correct. In cases where the
central database manually enter the pollen counts, the database should routinely
return to the data originator a copy of the data, as they are entered in the
database, for optional verification by the originator.
3. May use any unrestricted data.
4. Can obtain copies of application software and the database itself for use on
his/her own computer.
5. Can ask at any time that his/her restricted data be withdrawn from the
database or that their status be changed to unrestricted.
6. May, by so informing the EPD, extend the restricted status of a data set
after the standard three years.
7. In the case of a dispute regarding inappropriate use of restricted data, the
Advisory Board will serve as arbitrator.
C. Users
1. Must ask permission from the data originator for use of restricted data.
2. Should, as a matter of courtesy, inform data originators of the uses being
made of their data. (but see also C 8)
3. If the contributor wishes, should show the contributor results of analyses
and manuscripts for publication for critical comment. (but see also C 8)
4. Should cite, in any publication using data from the database, the
contributors' original publications describing their data. (but see also C 8)
5. Should send reprints of publications that use EPD data to the database
centre.
6. Should acknowledge contributors for use of unpublished data and for any
advice they may have provided. (but see also C 8)
7. No user can pass data on to another party. All users must obtain data from
the central database.
8. Normal ethics apply to co-authorship of publications. The contributor
should be invited to be a co-author if a user makes significant use of a
single contributor's data, or a single contributor's data comprise a
substantial portion of a larger dataset analyzed, or a contributor makes a
significant contribution to the analysis of the data or to the interpretation
of the results. This guideline applies to unrestricted as well as to restricted
data. In the case of synoptic studies that use pollen data from numerous sites
it may be neither practical, possible, nor reasonable to contact all
contributors or make them co-authors of the publication. It may even not be
possible to cite all the publications that were used. In such cases the users
should make the EPD Executive and Advisory Board aware of their use of the
data and should publish a web page (to be cited in the printed publication)
listing the complete bibliographical information and, for unpublished data,
names of data contributors. The web-page should have a link to the EPD web-page.
9. The data are available only to non-profit-making organizations and for
research.
Profit-making organizations may use the data, even for legitimate uses, only
with the written consent of the Advisory Board, who will determine or negotiate
the payment of any fee required.