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Constellation Terms & Conditions

Data Deposit Agreement

By depositing this Content ("Content") in Constellation, you agree that you are solely liable for any consequences of uploading this Content into Constellation, and making it publicly available, and you represent and warrant that:

  • You are either the sole creator and the owner of the copyrights and all other rights in the Content; or, if not the sole creator, you have the right to deposit, distribute and allow ORNL to distribute the dataset. Additionally, you agree that the dataset does not infringe the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of third-parties, is not defamatory, and does not violate any laws or another person's rights of privacy or publicity.
  • You agree to provide public access to your data under one of the standardized licenses identified in Constellation’s Licensing and Distribution Requirements
  • The dataset contains no restricted, private, confidential, or otherwise protected data or information that should not be publicly shared (for legal, contractual or policy reasons or otherwise), and that the submission and distribution of this dataset complies with any applicable IRB protocol.
  • The dataset is in a final state and is not subject to revisions or updates.
  • Nothing in the dataset contains any software viruses or computer codes, files, or programs capable of allowing unauthorized access or disrupting, damaging, limiting or interfering with the proper functioning of Constellation or other users' software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment.
  • The submission is a dataset and is not covered by other STI submission guidelines, and Constellation is the appropriate repository
  • If you are uploading human participant data, you will be asked to provide the consent form, information sheet, or other participant agreement, and a curator will evaluate the submission according to the criteria specified in our Human Participant Data Policy and Guidelines.
     

Licensing and Distribution Requirements

To the extent the Submitter has asserted copyright in the dataset, the Submitter will provide a license agreement when a dataset is submitted to the system. This license agreement should include a statement that the data are open-source and ORNL has a right to save and redistribute the dataset to the public. The license agreement should also include permission for ORNL to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, or publicly display the dataset, including the associated metadata, translate, or re-format the data set in any way to ensure its future preservation and accessibility and to incorporate metadata or documentation in the data set into public access catalogs.  For more information see: https://opendefinition.org/od/2.1/en/

Long-Term Access, Preservation, and Retention

Enabling long-term access in support of open scholarship is among Constellation’s core values. To the extent reasonable, Constellation will endeavor to provide access to the deposited data for a minimum period of 10 years.  

Constellation will attempt to maintain data and supporting files in the forms they were originally submitted. In some cases, Constellation may maintain the content, structure and/or functionality of the files through format migration or other appropriate strategies. Constellation will also strive to provide basic services which may include backup, obsolescence management, and periodic refreshment by copying the data to new storage media. 

Datasets published by Constellation undergo a review every 10 years to assess the need for retention or for potential management by another department within ORNL. The purpose of these reviews is to identify and attempt to remediate data that has become inaccessible (e.g., because of format obsolescence). If any datasets are removed from Constellation, all reasonable efforts will be made to find another steward at ORNL or to return the dataset to the original submitter. The retention review process will be overseen by the Lead Data Curator.

Data Deletion Policy

DOIs are persistent identifiers and cannot be deleted. Once a dataset is published and assigned a DOI, the underlying data should not be removed except in rare cases such as discovery of sensitive content. The Constellation repository managers and curators must review and approve requests for data deletion. Once approved, the data files will be moved or deleted, and the DOI landing page will be transformed to include a “statement of unavailability.” When possible, the complete metadata record will remain accessible in accordance with DOI best practices. DOI submitters will be notified of the removal or deletion of their dataset.