SHARING PUBLICATION-RELATED DATA AND MATERIALS
RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORSHIP IN THE LIFE SCIENCES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract no. N01-OD-4–2139, Task Order #88 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Health and Human Services/ the National Institutes of Health; Grant No. DBI-0127703 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation; Agreement No. B2001–47 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Sloan Foundation; and the National Research Council Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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Cover: Details from the library ceiling of the National Academy of Sciences building (Lee Lawrie, sculptor)
Front cover: Recording of discovery
Back cover: Reading of the record
Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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COMMITTEE ON RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORSHIP IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
THOMAS R.CECH (Chair),
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland
SEAN R.EDDY,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
DAVID EISENBERG,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute; University of California, Los Angeles
KAREN HERSEY,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
STEVEN H.HOLTZMAN,
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
GEORGE H.POSTE,
Health Technology Networks, Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania
NATASHA V.RAIKHEL,
University of California, Riverside
RICHARD H.SCHELLER,
Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
DAVID B.SINGER,
GeneSoft, Inc., South San Francisco, California
MARY C.WALTHAM,
Independent Publishing Consultant, Princeton, New Jersey
Project Staff
ROBIN A.SCHOEN, Study Director
BRIDGET K.B.AVILA, Senior Project Assistant
ELIA BEN-ARI, Science Writer
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES
COREY S.GOODMAN (Chair)
University of California, Berkeley, California
R.ALTA CHARO,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
JOANNE CHORY,
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California
DAVID J.GALAS,
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, Claremont, California
BARBARA GASTEL,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
JAMES M.GENTILE,
Hope College, Holland, Michigan
LINDA GREER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, District of Columbia
ED HARLOW,
Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
ELLIOT M.MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
ROBERT T.PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
GREGORY A.PETSKO,
Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
STUART L.PIMM,
Columbia University, New York, New York
JOAN B.ROSE,
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida
GERALD M.RUBIN,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland
BARBARA A.SCHAAL,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
RAYMOND L.WHITE,
DNA Sciences, Inc., Fremont, California
Senior Staff
FRANCES SHARPLES, Director
Preface
I agreed to chair the National Research Council’s Committee on Responsibilities of Authorship in the Biological Sciences because I thought the topic is central to the proper conduct of research. And it is an important topic to revisit now because genome databases and other large datasets have greatly ramped up the value of “published materials” while the increasing entanglement of academic and commercial research has complicated the landscape on which science is pursued. I also thought it would be a relatively easy task: after all, isn’t there a consensus that publication-related data and materials need to be freely shared?
Now, more than a year later, it is clear to me and the committee that there is in fact a general consensus about sharing published data and materials, but also wide variation in how this implicit contract to share is implemented and in whether individual scientists, companies, or editors exempt themselves in particular circumstances. One hears academic scientists explain, “We always send out our transgenic mice after we publish…but of course we expect to be coauthors on any publications that result.” One hears company scientists proclaim adherence to the same principle of sharing, “but of course you first need to sign an agreement granting us an exclusive license to commercialize any discovery made with our database or materials.” Thus, as in many human activities, the devil is in the details. As a result, the committee ended up
not simply recording the community standards as they are practiced, but gleaning from them principles and recommendations that we think are worth adopting generally.
The process the committee traversed in its deliberations is prescribed by the National Research Council to maximize fairness. There was even a meeting in which the Committee was asked whether it had broad enough representation; we decided we did not, and additional industrial representatives were recruited. A public meeting held at the National Academy of Sciences drew a large and diverse audience whose opinions were taken into account. As drafts of the report were written, the committee’s deliberations intensified. I had anticipated that there would sometimes be differences of opinion between academic and industrial members; to my surprise, there was no such divide: everyone on the committee felt strongly that once they publish, academic and company scientists take on the same responsibilities to share and should enjoy the same benefits of receiving published materials, data, and software. Finally, detailed anonymous critiques from a diverse group of reviewers led to useful modifications and inclusion of more examples in the report.
The question the committee heard over and over again was, “Shouldn’t there be exceptions to the general responsibility to share?” We therefore devote an entire chapter to analysis of such questions. While there are some obvious justifications for exceptions—for example, if it is illegal for a scientist from a particular country to send out a particular type of material—in general, the committee held to a uniform principle for sharing integral data and materials expeditiously, or UPSIDE. The upside of UPSIDE is two-fold: it keeps science honest, and it fosters the progress of science. Both are worth nurturing and protecting.
Thomas R.Cech
Chairman
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Paul Evans, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, Columbus, Ohio
Philip Campbell, Nature, London, England, United Kingdom Kevin Davies, Bio-IT World, Framingham, Massachusetts
Maria Friere, The Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development, New York, New York
W.R. “Reg” Gomes, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, Oakland, California
Donald Kennedy, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Science Magazine, Washington, D.C.
David Korn, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.
Tom E.Lovejoy, H.John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, Washington, D.C.
Andrew Neighbour, University of California, Los Angeles, California
Peter H.Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri
Joseph V.Smith, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Oliver Smithies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Philip P.Green, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
Randy Scott, Genomic Health, Inc., Redwood City, California
Lincoln Stein, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Long Island, New York
Although the reviewers listed above have provided constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Gilbert S. Omenn of the University of Michigan and C.H. “Herb” Ward of Rice University. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Acknowledgments
This report is the product of many individuals. In particular, we would like to thank all those who attended our workshop, Community Standards for Publication-Related Data and Materials, on February 25, 2002. Without the input of each of these participants, this report would not have been possible.
Mark Adams, Celera Genomics
Wendy Baldwin, National Institutes of Health
Catherine Ball, National Science Foundation
Jules Berman, National Cancer Institute
Helen Berman, Rutgers University
Steven Briggs, Torrey Mesa Research Institute
Eric Campbell, Harvard University
Phil Campbell, Nature
Michelle Cimbala, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein, and Fox, PLLC
Barbara Cohen, The Journal of Clinical Investigation
Francis Collins, National Human Genome Research Institute
Katie Cottingham, Science Magazine
Nicholas Cozzarelli, University of California-Berkeley, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Jeffrey Drazen, The New England Journal of Medicine
Anita Eisenstadt, National Science Foundation
Lila Feisee, Biotechnology Industry Organization
Maria Freire, The Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development
Elisabeth Gantt, University of Maryland
Barbara Gastel, Texas A&M University
Michael Gazzaniga, Dartmouth College
Corey Goodman, Renovis, Inc.
Laurie Goodman, Genome Research
Robert Haselkorn, The University of Chicago
Michael Hayden, University of British Columbia
Kathy Hudson, National Human Genome Research Institute
Barbara Jasny, Science Magazine
Elke Jordan, National Human Genome Research Institute
Donald Kennedy, Stanford University, Science Magazine
Carter Kimsey, National Science Foundation
Marc Kirschner, Harvard Medical School
Stephen Koslow, National Institute of Mental Health
Enno Krebbers, DuPont, University of Delaware
David Kulp, Affymetrix
Eric Lander, Whitehead Institute, MIT
Robert Last, Cereon Genomics
Eaton Lattman, Johns Hopkins University
Craig Liddell, Paradigm Genetics
Ann Link, American Association of Immunologists
Karin Lohman, Committee on Science, United States House of Representatives
Pal Maliga, Waksman Institute, Rutgers University
Cheryl Marks, National Cancer Institute
Victoria McGovern, Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Ira Mellman, Yale University School of Medicine
Joachim Messing, Waksman Institute, Rutgers University
Kate Murashige, Morrison & Foerster, LLP
Elizabeth Neufeld, University of California-Los Angeles, School of Medicine
Ari Patrinos, U.S. Department of Energy
Jerome Reichman, Duke University Law School
Ellis Rubenstein, Science Magazine
James Siedow, Duke University
Vivian Siegel, Cell
Jane Silverthorn, National Science Foundation
Fintan Steele, Molecular Therapy
Diane Sullenberger, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Herbert Tabor, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
Heidi Wagner, Genentech, Inc.
Bob Waterston, Washington University School of Medicine
Jim Wells, Sunesis Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Sandra Wolman, Universities Associated for Research and Education in Pathology