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1.1.2  User and Data Policy

All data in the MagIC database are User-Contributed and uploaded on a Publication-by-Publication basis. The MagIC database primarily contains Activated Contributions from Peer-Reviewed Publications and Student Theses, including those In Press. These uploads are available to the entire MagIC userbase and are permanently archived under a strict version control. The various user actions, contribution types, levels of data ownership and data deletions are explained in detail below.

All database contributors and users are to adhere to the EarthRef.org Copyright Policy.

Data sets for publications In Preparation or In Review can be uploaded as Private Contributions Only and can be accessed by the data owners alone. These Private Contributions optionally can be set up by the data owner to have Group Access allowing select groups of users to access such hidden MagIC data sets with a group name and password.

Unpublished Data Sets that cannot be published (elsewhere) in the peer-reviewed literature can be uploaded into the MagIC database as an EarthRef.org Data Publication. These uploads should be accompanied with a list of authors, affiliations, a title, a short abstract and a technical note that describes the analytical methods applied. These publications will be assigned an EarthRef.org DOI and their citation will be permanently stored in the EarthRef.org Reference Database.

Activated Contributions will undergo Data Reviews by editors and referees representing the international paleo- and rock magnetic research community. These Data Reviews are meant to help improve the quality of the data uploads and are not meant to critique the science and conclusions presented in the publications.

User Actions

Data owners can manage a contribution to the MagIC database in three different ways:

• Upload a New Contribution: Select this option to start a completely new contribution. This first upload gets assigned Version #1 in the database.
• Update an Existing Contribution: This option allows users to upload updated data files associated with an existing private or activated contribution. These updates get assigned Version #2 and higher. Previously activated contributions will be retained and can still be searched and downloaded upon request, whereas private contributions will be replaced entirely with this action.
• Activate a Private Contribution: This option allows users to activate a contribution that previously was uploaded in the private mode. Version numbers remain unchanged.

Contribution Types

Once a contribution has been uploaded into the MagIC database, the data owner can restrict its access or provide open access to the world, again in three different ways:

• Private: This is the most restrictive mode, whereby the data owner alone can search, view or download the uploaded data. This allows the data owner to integrate these private data into the overall MagIC database and to use the online tools and visualizations to carry out paleomagnetic and rock magnetic research in confidence.
• Private with Group Access: This is a less restrictive private mode, whereby the data owner can generate a username and password to be shared on his/her discretion only. This allows for collaboration with students and colleagues who have access to the username and password, but the rest of the world cannot search, view or download these data. This also allows for the data owner to give access to editors and reviewers when a data set is part of a publication undergoing peer-review.
• Activated: If the user decides to activate a contribution, it means access is provided to the entire MagIC userbase, whereby everybody can search, view or download the data contained in this contribution. The data owner at this stage cannot revoke the uploaded contribution, yet an update can be processed and uploaded if corrections need to be made or additional data were added to the contribution at a later stage.

Data Ownerships

There can only be one data owner per contribution. However, data ownership can change based on the following hierarchy:

• MagIC Database Team: The members of this team are actively involved in data population, yet their data ownership can be overwritten by any random contributor who is willing to take on the responsibility of managing a particular contribution.
• Random Contributor (overwrites MagIC Database Team): Many legacy data sets will be compiled and uploaded by random contributors. Their data ownership can only be overwritten by an original author appearing on the peer-reviewed publication.
• Original Author (overwrites random contributor): The lead or co-authors on a peer-reviewed publication by definition are best suited to prepare, upload and manage a particular contribution. They normally have the maximum amount of data (including measurements) easily available and thus can provide the most complete, accurate and up-to-date data sets. Whenever practically possible the MagIC Database Team is seeking out original authors to manage a contribution.

Data Deletions

Activated Contributions cannot be deleted by the data owners. Private Contributions remain in the database until the data owner replaces it with an activated update or activates an existing private upload. If a private contribution has been Inactive for more than 2 years it will be removed from the data holdings by the MagIC Database Team.

The MagIC Database Team reserves the right to delete any Incorrect or Fraudulent Contributions without any further notice.

Data Reviewing

Each Activated Contribution will be assigned a Data Editor, who will select at least one Referee to review the data contribution for its correctness, completeness and clarity only. These reviews are meant to help improve the quality of the uploaded data in the MagIC Database. However, these reviews explicitly are not concerned with the science and conclusions presented in the publication.

Once the data review(s) are complete, the data owner should prepare an update of the data contribution and upload this as soon as possible into the MagIC Database. All activated versions of these data contributions will be retained in the database, will receive a time stamp and version number, and can be retroactively included in database searches.

See also ...

Contents	MagIC
Chapter 1	Introduction
Topic 1.1.1	Goals and Philosophy
Topic 1.1.3	MagIC Database Team and Committee Structure
Topic 1.1.4	History and Timeline
Topic 1.1.5	Acknowledgements

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