II.6.1 "data"

The term "data" has created considerable debate and not a little alarm among many researchers, universities and scientific organizations. The question is often raised, for example, whether under the new policy scientists will have to hand over their lab notebooks, tissue cultures, field notes, video interviews, and the like. While CRE believes that these are legitimate concerns, we also believe that they are neither insurmountable nor a compelling reason to deny legitimate requests for access to federally produced research materials.

Generally speaking, independent analysts wishing to confirm the conclusions of a federally sponsored study are unlikely to request lab notebooks, tissue cultures, and so forth. Rather, only the minimum amount of data necessary to reproduce the experiment or verify the analysis will be sought. There may be occasions, however, where recourse to the original numbers is necessary to replicate the findings of the original researcher. The scope of "data" needed for a sufficient review in these cases will likely have to be determined on a case by case basis.

CRE offers the following definition of "data" to assist OMB in constructing a framework for the awarding agencies:

All tangible information or material, including but not limited to measurements, surveys, and experimental details, and subsequent data treatments, including statistical analyses, obtained, performed and compiled by researchers under an award.