General Guidelines

ARM-sponsored data will be released in the general spirit of the basic tenets of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility:
• Free and open access.
• Immediate processing and sharing by Principal Investigators (PIs) in the field, if at all possible.
• Timely release to collaborating science teams and general scientific community through the ARM data system.
• Collaborating programs are encouraged to follow the ARM data protocols of timely release and free and open sharing.
• All data to be submitted to the ARM data system will be accompanied by full documentation in accordance with the Data Management and Documentation Plan.
  Planning for IOPs and campaigns will include specific plans for data reduction, evaluation, and publication.

• All IOP and campaign participants will have early access to all data acquired. Direct transfer of preliminary data in the field may be necessary, but to the extent possible, ARM will arrange common electronic sharing mechanisms. Preliminary data are defined as not quality controlled or documented by the investigator and should not be considered publishable without coordination with the responsible investigator.
• ARM data are available to all participants on a free and open basis and are publishable upon receipt with acknowledgment of ARM as the source.
• Data originating from ARM-funded sources during IOPs will be quality assured and released to the ARM External Data Center as soon as possible after collection, but no later than 6 months from the date of completion of the IOP or campaign. When released to the ARM External Data Center, data are considered publishable, but users are cautioned to confirm data version with the originator before publication.
• For data originating from non-ARM funded sources, it is desirable for that data to be quality assured and released to the ARM External Data Center within 4 months from the completion of the IOP or campaign, if possible, but not later than 6 months. At the time data are transmitted to the External Data Center, they are considered publishable, but users are cautioned to confirm data version with the originator before publication. The website campaign summary will list points of contact for submitted data.
• The ARM External Data Center and ARM Data Center will track data versions and ensure latest data versions are made available to data recipients.
• IOP and campaign participants may release their own preliminary data to whomever they wish and preliminary data of other investigators with consent from the data’s originator.
• All data sets acquired during an IOP or campaign will be made available to the ARM External Data Center for dissemination to users and forwarding to the ARM Data Center.
• Non-participants in an IOP or campaign who wish to use the IOP or campaign data set are encouraged to enlist the collaboration of a participant in the field activity.

Early publication of research and analysis results is a key objective of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. The following principles are established to encourage or facilitate early publication.

All routine ARM data are freely publishable upon receipt.

• ARM and non-ARM data will be shared in the field as preliminary data; these data will not be considered publishable.
• The automatic inclusion of a data originator as a co-author is not insisted upon in ARM, but the source of any data should be clearly recognized either as a co-author or through an appropriate acknowledgment.
• The field campaign lead scientist will prepare a summary of the IOP/campaign for posting on the ARM website. This summary will include a listing of available data and URLs as appropriate. An initial summary will be posted following the IOP or campaign and updated on a timely basis as data are made available. A final summary report will be prepared and accessible through the IOP web page within six months of the completion of the IOP. For those few data sets not yet submitted or fully documented by the PI, a schedule for data/documentation delivery will be given.
• Data originating from ARM and non-ARM-funded sources during field campaigns will be quality assured by the originators and submitted to the ARM Data Center through the External Data Center as soon as possible or within the constraints of the IOP guidelines. Upon transmission to the External Data Center, data are considered publishable; users are cautioned to confirm data versions with originators before publication.
• The U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility should be acknowledged in publications as the programmatic origin of the field program. Publications resulting from collaborative efforts in which ARM data or facilities were used are requested to also appropriately acknowledge the cooperation or collaboration with:
  

  “U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility [XXX sites, data, specific campaign data] were used.”

  ARM-funded investigators will use the following acknowledgment:

  “This research was supported by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility managed by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research.”

  PIs providing non-routine data will be acknowledged as appropriate.

• Proper acknowledgment should be given to cooperating or collaborating programs in those cases where data originating therein are being used.