Guide to Ensuring Access to the Publications and Data of Federally Funded Transportation Research (2020)

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CHAPTER 5. Roles and Responsibilities This chapter provides guidance on identifying and operationalizing roles, including those necessary to meeting essential requirements and those needed to go beyond the minimum. State DOTs and other organizations conducting research should take the opportunity to consider whether they want to play a direct role in achieving the Open Science vision, and, if so, what the extent and nature of that role might be. An expanded vision will mean expanded roles across research institutions. Key Roles for Essential Requirements As discussed in Chapter 4, the U.S. DOT has established and taken responsibility for several key roles in achieving essential compliance. Specifically, the U.S. DOT has defined the vision and the goal (why), specified what should be submitted, when it should be submitted and where. Research institutions are responsible for determining who should be involved in compliance at their organizations and how compliance will be achieved. The table below identifies a set of organizational roles that may already exist within the organization and that are relevant for each essential compliance task. 5. R O LE S & R E S P O N S IB ILIT IE S In This Section » Key Roles for Essential Requirements » Going Beyond: Expanding Stakeholders and Roles and Responsibilities » Aligning Stakeholders with Roles and Responsibilities » Building a Research Preservation–Conscious Culture » Chapter Checklist Essential Compliance Tasks Possible Existing Organizational Roles Track research funding proposals Institutional research board, research and sponsored programs officers, research managers, researchers Develop data management plans Data librarians, institutional repository managers, data services support teams, researchers, research teams Estimate costs/budgets for research data management Institutional repository managers Register researcher Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) identifiers Researchers Identify and approve repositories for research data management Institutional repository managers, information technology managers, research managers, librarians Track and submit research publications Researchers, reference and research librarians Track and submit research final and technical reports Research and sponsored program officers, research managers, researchers Close out and audit research project compliance Researchers, research and sponsored program officers 35

36 5. Roles and Responsibilities Research organizations and state DOTs vary in their structures, roles, responsibilities, and in the nature and extent of their research. Each research institution will need to interpret and adapt the roles and responsibilities to suit its situation. Where research is an internal service, a research institution may need to work closely with management and researchers to develop a plan for essential compliance. Going Beyond: Expanding Stakeholders and Roles and Responsibilities Going Beyond means expanding an organization’s understanding of stakeholders to include both producers and consumers of its research assets. Open Science adds value to all aspects of an organization’s research. The challenge is to determine the level of investment in managing and making those research assets available and accessible. Going Beyond: Stakeholders There are several types of stakeholders for publications and data, and they can assume a variety of roles within and outside of a research institution or state DOT. Some will provide support or resources that are needed to develop, manage, share, curate, and preserve the data. Others will require information and actions from people in the research institution or state DOT to ensure that requirements and expectations for the data are being met. Specific stakeholders for data and publications will vary, depending on factors that include the following: • Nature of the data being developed or worked with, • Intended purpose of the data, • Intended audience for the data, • The institution and its requirements or needs for the data, • Requirements made by funding agencies or other external bodies for the data, and • Access to resources (e.g., staff, money, time). Identifying stakeholders early on in the research—ideally, prior to generating any data—and mapping when and how interactions will occur will help take full advantage of the support they can provide and keep the work moving forward without delays. ? ? ? Beyond minimum Expanding an organization’s understanding of stakeholders Identifying stakeholders early will help organizations plan well and avoid delays. ? ? ?

37 5. Roles and Responsibilities Going Beyond: Expanding Roles and Responsibilities The research life-cycle model is an important tool for state DOTs or research institutions that aim for the long term and expand their goals for Open Science. This life-cycle model is crucial because it helps visualize the full range of research products an organization is generating. It also provides a framework for identifying internal and external stakeholders and for determining whether all of the support roles and resources are in place to support the vision. Life cycles are specific to a research project, as the steps taken and the data generated are unique to the nature and intent of the research. However, some common categories can be identified, which may be useful as a starting point. Life-cycle models, such as that of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), shown in Figure 4, depict the stages of development that a research project, particularly the data set, will pass through in its development. In other words, these models define what happens when. Defining the stages of the research life cycle and what activities will take place in each stage will help organizations identify who will be providing support for the work and who may require information and action from the organization. In other words who will do what, when, or who will need what, when. This provides a springboard for defining the roles and responsibilities for achieving an expanded vision. The USGS life-cycle model describes six stages, each of which includes activities related to preservation: 1. Plan refers to the early work of designing the project, getting it funded, and, once funded, getting it started. This is the stage at which a data management plan would be drafted, and part of the process could include establishing who is responsible for contributing to, drafting, approving, and communicating the data management plan (DMP). This stage also includes high-level information about the types of data that will be generated, what support or infrastructure is in place or will be needed to enact the DMP (such as storage, security, or other equipment), and who will be responsible for ensuring this support or infrastructure is in place. Describe (Metadata, Documentation) Manage Quality Backup & Secure PUBLISH/ SHARE PRESERVEANALYZEPROCESSACQUIREPLAN Figure 4. U.S. Geological Survey’s Research Model

38 5. Roles and Responsibilities Table 3. Worksheet to Help Identify Stakeholders for the Research Project and/or Data Set Role Name (or Title if name is not known) Support Provided Information Required Time Frame/Stage Person Needs to Be Involved Principal Investigator Martha Johnson Budgets and ensures time for preservation within the project; authors DMP; submits all eligible publications and data to the National Transportation Library (NTL) What are the requirements for compliance; what makes a good DMP All Researcher Joseph Garcia Oversees gathering of survey data What documentation is needed to develop a codebook; institutional review board (IRB) guidelines and how they impact sharing and archiving data All Researcher Rebecca Aoki Oversees data collection on noise levels at intersections What documentation is needed and how it should be structured All Lab Manager Jeff King Stores and processes the noise level data Who should have access to the data and when; what elements of the data should be archived Data collection; data analysis; data archiving Compliance Personnel Debra Strauss Reports to U.S. DOT; informs personnel of U.S. DOT requirements Documentation that the U.S. DOT requirements are being met Proposal planning; sharing results; project wrap up Data Repository Support staff at the Inter- university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) to deposit the data; support staff at ROSA P to deposit articles and register the data. Provide guidelines on preparing data for deposit, sharing, and archiving Deposit of the data Sharing results; data archiving 2. Acquire covers the actions taken by staff to support generating or collecting the data for the project. How is each type of data in the project collected, by whom, and through what method? In addition, what documentation of the data collection process will be needed for others to understand and use the data, and who is responsible for ensuring proper documentation? 3. Process refers to the step between data collection and data analysis, in which data are typically transformed into an analyzable (and eventually shareable) form. Here, documentation of the resulting data set, including development of a codebook, will be critical. 4. Analyze refers to the actions taken by staff to analyze the data to answer the research questions of the project. This stage could include information on the analysis procedures, how they affect the data and inform the findings derived from the data, and who is responsible for performing and documenting the analysis. 5. Preserve covers the outputs of the research (papers and data), how/where they will be shared, what actions will be needed for preparing these outputs for sharing, and who will be responsible for the process. Documentation is key to effective future use by other researchers.? ? ?

39 5. Roles and Responsibilities Table 3. Worksheet to Help Identify Stakeholders for the Research Project and/or Data Set Role Name (or Title if name is not known) Support Provided Information Required Time Frame/Stage Person Needs to Be Involved Principal Investigator Martha Johnson Budgets and ensures time for preservation within the project; authors DMP; submits all eligible publications and data to the National Transportation Library (NTL) What are the requirements for compliance; what makes a good DMP All Researcher Joseph Garcia Oversees gathering of survey data What documentation is needed to develop a codebook; institutional review board (IRB) guidelines and how they impact sharing and archiving data All Researcher Rebecca Aoki Oversees data collection on noise levels at intersections What documentation is needed and how it should be structured All Lab Manager Jeff King Stores and processes the noise level data Who should have access to the data and when; what elements of the data should be archived Data collection; data analysis; data archiving Compliance Personnel Debra Strauss Reports to U.S. DOT; informs personnel of U.S. DOT requirements Documentation that the U.S. DOT requirements are being met Proposal planning; sharing results; project wrap up Data Repository Support staff at the Inter- university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) to deposit the data; support staff at ROSA P to deposit articles and register the data. Provide guidelines on preparing data for deposit, sharing, and archiving Deposit of the data Sharing results; data archiving 6. Publish/Share refers to the actions and infrastructure needed to ensure long-term access to articles, data, and other products of the research project as determined by the needs of the organization conducting the research and the requirements of the funding agency. An important goal of creating a research life-cycle model is to identify the considerations and actions needed to be able to share and archive the data generated from a research project. Remember to complete the information in the research life-cycle table with an eye toward the perspective of the data, giving due consideration to its eventual public release and preservation. In addition to those roles and responsibilities required to support compliance with essential requirements, going beyond may also include new roles and expanded responsibilities for existing roles. For example, stakeholders interested in consuming an organization’s research products and data may include funding agencies; other research institutions; research communities; external researchers or researchers in other domains, departments, and schools; scholarly societies, publishers, entrepreneurs and innovators within and beyond the transportation industry; and the general public. Internal ? ? ? Beyond minimum Going beyond may also include new roles and expanded responsibilities for existing roles.

40 5. Roles and Responsibilities stakeholders might now expand to include researchers conducting research without funding, funding from internal sources, or funding from private foundations. Depending on what stakeholders are seeking, going beyond may also include preservation of research products produced in earlier stages of the life cycle. Wherever the scope and coverage of research expands, responsibilities will also expand. Research funds and proposal managers may find that they now have responsibilities for tracking all research projects and all of the products they generate. Compliance managers may have expanded responsibilities for tracking research across the full organization. Information technology managers may now have expanded responsibilities for managing registries and repositories for what was previously stored on departmental drives or personal workstations. Laboratory managers may have new responsibilities for ensuring that laboratory data quality is assured or that laboratory products are supported by full documentation. Librarians’ responsibilities may expand to include management of gray literature (i.e., reports not published in academic journals), research products, and the establishment of institutional information management policies and practices. Going beyond the essential requirements will have a significant impact on roles and responsibilities and should be well anchored in the plan discussed in Chapter 4. Aligning Stakeholders with Roles and Responsibilities The next step is to identify who the stakeholders for a specific research project are or will be in the future. This is done by identifying who in the state DOT or research institution performs the roles that were described in the previous step. Table 3, “Worksheet to Help Identify Stakeholders for the Research Project and/or Data Set” (p. 38), provides a template for assigning specific people to the roles and responsibilities related to preserving research products. In attaching people to stages in the research life cycle, be sure to identify any gaps in the support available at your organization. This will help in determining whether additional staff or additional training for existing staff are needed. Building a Research Preservation–Conscious Culture Expanding stakeholders and roles and responsibilities will have an impact on your organization’s culture. It is important to consider how the team will handle managing, sharing, curating, and preserving the data and how all of these roles and responsibilities will align and work together. The new culture will be influenced by internal and ? ? ? Beyond minimum Any plan for going beyond should be sure to address how stakeholders communicate with each other and how often.

41 5. Roles and Responsibilities external requirements — each expansion of responsibilities may involve bringing in new perspectives and principles. In addition, communication between and across all of these roles is critical to achieving the vision. Any plan for going beyond should be sure to address how stakeholders will communicate with each other and how often. Write out plans and share them with stakeholders as appropriate. Communication of expectations of roles and responsibilities (and how they connect across the team) is critical. All of these are important pieces of the long-term strategic plan. Chapter Checklist This chapter will help you to þ Identify key roles for compliance with essential requirements. þ Map roles to job titles. þ Review current responsibilities. þ Define an expanded stakeholder model for going beyond. þ Define expanded roles and responsibilities for going beyond. þ Anticipate impacts to organizational culture. þ Anticipate new communication patterns. þ Design and implement new governance models and methods.