DATA POLICY

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Data Policy

1. Preface

  1. The Marine Plastic Litter Database (hereinafter referred to as the "Database") incorporates a data policy based on the principles of timely, free and unrestricted access to marine plastic litter data for the benefit of science and society.
  2. Marine plastic litter and microplastics are a matter requiring urgent action by all countries in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
  3. Monitoring for marine plastic litter and microplastics may have various purposes including elucidating the current status of pollution, developing measures and verifying their effectiveness, and setting targets and milestones for reducing marine plastic litter and microplastics.
  4. Harmonized monitoring and data compilation contribute to the achievement of SDG 14.1, the UN Decade and the "Osaka Blue Ocean Vision" through evidence-based policy making.
  5. The purpose of the Database is to develop a database for collecting and sharing data on marine plastic litter monitoring, and to accomplish the following:
    • Aggregation and facilitation of access to scattered monitoring data on marine plastic litter on a global scale.
    • Provision of a reliable database by classifying scientifically comparable data.
    • Visualization of scientific data through mapping to facilitate their use for public awareness and education.
      Through these efforts, the monitoring results are expected to contribute to measures for reducing marine plastic litter and to promote networking among survey implementers and users.

2. Data Acceptance

  1. The Marine Plastic Litter Database Administrator (hereinafter referred to as the "Database Administrator") shall, in principle, accept all data and perform quality control and proofreading of the received data before publishing them in the database.
    However, the Database Administrator may not publish any data in the Database, if that does not sound eligible based on the results of quality control or other reasonable grounds.
  2. The Database Administrator shall endeavor to preserve and manage the received data properly.

3. Agreement on Data Sharing

  1. The data providers retain all rights and responsibilities associated with the data they provide to the Database.
    • The data providers are responsible for the completeness of their data and metadata profiles.
    • The data providers agree that the data they provide shall be made publicly available through the Database.
    • The data providers agree that not all of the data they have provided shall be published in the Database and the data once published in the Database may be suspended or deleted.
    • The data providers agree that the data they provide may be published in the Database after the Database Administrator converts them to comparable values by changing units.
    • The data providers agree that the Data Administrator and the user of the Database (hereinafter referred to as the "Database User") may create products based on the data provided by the data providers (hereinafter referred to as "Data Products"), including but not limited to maps, and publish the Data Products.
  2. When data are made available in the Database, the Database Administrator and the Database Users (for (iii) only) shall be deemed as granted permission to:

    (i) Distribute the data via the Database;
    (ii) Provide value-added services by building the Database and converting units into comparable forms;
    (iii) Create Data Products and publish them; and
    (iv) Provide the data to other similar open-access networks (hereinafter referred to as "Linked Databases"),
      in compliance with the terms and conditions for use set by the Database Administrator.

  3. The data providers agree that the Database Administrator or Database User shall respect the Creative Commons License specified by the data providers and make the data available under this data policy and the terms of use. The data providers shall choose any of the Creative Commons License of CC-0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA or CC-BY-NC-SA, unless the data provider and Database Administrator agree to choose from the others. Of the available Creative Commons licenses, CC-BY-SA is recommended.
  4. If the inclusion of a dataset in the Database is challenged based on copyright infringement, the Database Administrator shall delete the relevant data until the challenge is resolved.

4. Agreement on Data Use, Prohibitions

  1. Database Users shall use this service under the full understanding of the data policy of the Database. In addition, the Database in this policy shall include Linked Databases when Linked Databases are used. The data in the Database shall be freely available to everyone, following the principles of equitable access. However, the Database Users should indicate the source of the data when they disclose the Data Product.
    In addition, the Database Users are recommended to submit a copy of the research product in which the data, including the Data Products, are used, including but not limited to thesis, dissertation, papers and reports, (hereinafter referred to as the "Work Products") to the Database Administrator.
  2. In accordance with the operation manual, when creating Data Products, the Database Users shall confirm the Creative Commons license specified by the data providers and use the data appropriately under the conditions of the specified Creative Commons license. Please note that:
    • SA of the Creative Commons license will continue to apply to the Data Products created using the data the Creative Commons license specified by the data provider to which includes SA.
    • Commercial use of the data and the Data Products is not permitted when the specified Creative Commons license by the data provider includes NC.
  3. The Database Users shall use the data and the Data Products obtained from the Database for non-commercial use only. When the Database Users wish to use the data and the Data Products for commercial use, including the application for intellectual property rights, the Database Users shall reach an agreement with the Database Administrator before the commercial use as long as the designated Creative Commons license is CC-0, CC-BY or CC-BY-SA.
  4. The Database Users shall be prohibited from the following acts when using the Service.
    • Acts that infringe or are likely to infringe on the intellectual property rights or other rights or interests of the Database Administrator, the data providers, or any other third parties.
    • Acts that violate laws and regulations, this policy or the Terms of Use, or violate public order and morality, or acts that are likely to cause the violation of them.
    • Other acts which the Database Administrator reasonably finds inappropriate.
  5. In the event that the Database Users fall within any of the acts set forth in the preceding paragraph, the Database Administrator may suspend or restrict the use of the Database by the Database Users, or take other measures as deemed appropriate by the Database Administrator.

5. Citations and Acknowledgements

  1. When the Database Users disclose original data obtained from the Database, the Data Products, or the Work Products, they shall cite the source of the data in accordance with the method specified for each dataset in the Database. If the source citation method is not specified, the source shall be cited according to the following examples.

    Examples of citation indication:

    AOMI (YEAR), https://doi.org/XXX

    AOMI (YEAR) [Data, e.g., Distribution records of microplastics (MOEJ, 2018)] [Dataset] (Available at: AOMI. www.XXX. Accessed: YYYY-MM-DD)

  2. When the Database Users disclose original data obtained from the Database, Data Products, or Work Products, they shall make effort to include acknowledgments. If the method of acknowledgment is not specified, the acknowledgment shall be indicated by referring to the following example.

    Example of acknowledgement indication:

    The data/information used in this [type of derived work: e.g., publication/report/model/map...] were made available by the AOMI.

6. Disclaimer

  1. Appropriate caution is necessary for interpreting data obtained from the Database. The Database Users should be aware that the obtained data set may contain errors and should be cross-checked before use.
  2. The Database Administrator takes no responsibility for the quality and contents of the data, Data Products, or Work Products based on the data obtained from the Database, or their use or misuse.
  3. The data policy shall be amended from time to time.

Compliance with data policies, etc.

Database Users shall respect the Creative Commons license specified by the data provider and comply with the provisions concerning Database Users in the data policy and the TOU.

Prohibitions

  1. The Database User shall use the data and the products based on the data provided by the data providers (hereinafter referred to as "Data Products") obtained from the Database for non-commercial use only. When the Database User wish to use the data and the Data Products for commercial use, including the application for intellectual property rights, the Database Users shall reach an agreement with the Database Administrator before the commercial use as long as the designated Creative Commons license is CC-0, CC-BY or CC-BY-SA.
  2. Database Users shall be prohibited from the following acts when using the Service.
    • Acts that infringe or are likely to infringe on the intellectual property rights or other rights or interests of the Database Administrator, the data providers, or any other third parties
    • Acts that violate laws and regulations, the data policy or the TOU, or violate public order and morality, or acts that are likely to cause the violation of them
    • Other acts which the Database Administrator reasonably finds inappropriate
  3. In the event that Database Users fall within any of the acts set forth in the preceding paragraph, the Database Administrator may suspend or restrict the use of the Database by the Database Users, or take other measures as deemed appropriate by the Database Administrator.

Citations and Acknowledgements

  1. When Database Users disclose original data obtained from the Database, Data products that the Data Administrator creates based on the data, including maps, or products in which the data are used (hereinafter referred to as the "Work Products"), they shall cite the source of the data in accordance with the method specified for each dataset in the Database. If the source citation method is not specified, the source shall be cited according to the following examples.

    Examples of citation indication:

    AOMI (YEAR), https://doi.org/XXX

    AOMI (YEAR) [Data, e.g., Distribution records of microplastics (MOEJ, 2018)] [Dataset] (Available at: AOMI. www.XXX. Accessed: YYYY-MM-DD)

  2. When Database Users disclose original data obtained from the Database, Data Products, or Work Products, they shall make effort to include acknowledgments. If the method of acknowledgment is not specified, the acknowledgment shall be indicated by referring to the following example.

    Example of acknowledgement indication:

    The data/information used in this [type of derived work: e.g., publication/report/model/map...] were made available by the AOMI.

Disclaimer

  1. Appropriate caution is necessary for interpreting data obtained from the Database.
    Database users should be aware that the obtained data set may contain errors, and should be cross-checked before use.
  2. The Database Administrator takes no responsibility for the quality and contents of the data, Data Products, or Work Products based on data obtained from the Database, or their use or misuse.

Conditions of Use

Documents, images and other data provided in the Database shall be subject to change or deletion without notice.
Database Users shall prepare, at their own responsibility and expense, the devices, software, communication lines and other equipment required to use this database.

Amendment of the TOU

The Database Administrator may amend the TOU as it deems necessary at any time.

Privacy Policy

The Database Administrator shall not publicize or provide personal information on the data users obtained through the use of this website or the Services to any third party without the consent of the data user.

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