91�����

When research and publications are done collaboratively, it is important to agree on authorship in accordance with the . Who has the right to be named as an author, in what order authors are listed, and questions about data authorship can be challenging to navigate and may cause disputes. To ensure that expectations about authorship are aligned for all parties, it is recommended to discuss and agree on authorship as early as possible in the research. The document templates and instructions below will help agree on the responsibilities and rights as authors. The Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity's principles of authorship also apply to artistic publications produced in higher education institutions. 

The drawn up by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity requires that authorship be agreed upon before publication and separately for each manuscript. Funders also require that researchers follow the guidelines on authorship. Authorship of research data must be agreed upon when data is published.

Agreeing on authorship of articles

1. Review the template with the research group members, and discuss authorship and what specifically constitutes authorship before starting work. Outline the expected authors of the article in the document template and also consider what other contributions will be credited in the publication, e.g. in the acknowledgements section.
2. Update the document template as necessary during the research. 

3. Confirm the authors, their roles according to the , and the order of authors together with all authors before submitting the manuscript for publication.

Agreeing on authorship of data

1. Together with the research gropu, review the template, which guides discussion to the authorship of the data, how you wish it to be referenced, which archive the data will be stored in, and agreeing on possible embargo periods.
2. Complete the document template together with the research group and update it as necessary as the research progresses.
3. Confirm the authorship and authorship order of the data with the authors before opening the data.

To access these documents, please use the Aalto VPN connection and log in with your Aalto ID.

The purpose of the templates is to support discussion and bring transparency to agreeing on authorship. More detailed information on national and international authorship guidelines and futher tools for agreeing on authorship can be found in the Guidance on Authorship document. If you have any questions about agreeing on authorship, you can seek support from Aalto University's Research Integrity Advisers.

Data authorship and data ownership

Researcher is protected by the freedom of scientific research and is free to publish research data and use it in their research when the use is within applicable legislation. The authorship roles and responsibilities have been discussed above. It it however important to understand the difference between data authorship and ownership.  

Data ownership issues are pointed out in Aalto University open science and research policy: Aalto University Open Science and Research Policy | Aalto University

On section open data and FAIR principle point 4: 

“Aalto University requires that rights related to research data be defined in agreements. Ownership of sui generis database rights and catalogue rights are created as the property of the investor, which in the case of an Aalto employee or funding from Aalto University, is Aalto University. Ownership of copyright and other rights to data and databases produced with external funding are transferred 91����� University with the employment agreement (Annex 1). In cooperation projects, ownership of rights and licences to data must be agreed upon as early as possible”

Among other laws and principles, two of the legal aspects when deciding on who has ownership and right to decide on use and access of data are 1) Sui generis database rights under Finnish Copyright Act; and 2) Personal data and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Sui generis database right

Researcher is protected by the freedom of scientific research and may decide on research topics, what kind of data is collected and used for the research. However, in case use of data would infringe rights of data subject, applicable law or harm university or other Aalto University researchers, the employer can use sui generis database right, when other researchers are relying on the continuing availability of the research data are thus should be able continue their use and have access to the database. 

The cases when Aalto University intervenes are when issues related to data creates problems for Aalto University or other researchers within Aalto, e.g. taking the project’s dataset or hampering other researcher’s access to data to, which prevents other researchers to complete their research. One individual researcher, who has among others participated to the collection of the data, does not have sole legal right to decide on what data is use for and by whom. Aalto has ownership of sui generis database rights. Sui generis database rights is fundamentally based on based on EU law, so same principles apply in all EU countries. Surely there is liability to credit all the persons who have participated in the work of collecting the data, that is based on applicable research ethics guidelines, which Aalto strictly obliges to follow. 

Personal data and GDPR

Also in cases when the data is collected from human participants and is regarded as personal data, Aalto is the controller of the personal data in cases where the researcher is employed by Aalto. That also sets out more legal rights and obligations for Aalto to decide on the data. The data has to be used and processed as instructed by Aalto and as informed to the participant in the privacy notice.