ICSU-WDS Bylaws

The Bylaws are authorized by the Constitution of ICSU-WDS and are developed by the WDS-Scientific Committee in consultation with all WDS Member Organizations.

Data Sharing Principles

The International Council for Science – World Data System (ICSU-WDS) aims to promote universal and equitable access to quality-assured scientific data, data services, products and information, with a view towards long term data stewardship. Furthermore, ICSU-WDS is committed to fostering compliance with agreed-upon data standards and conventions, and providing mechanisms to facilitate and improve access to data. As the leading international, multidisciplinary organization in the provision of trusted data services, ICSU-WDS has adopted Data Sharing Principles to advance its goals.

The Principles express core ethical commitments that are operationalized in WDS Certification. For Regular and Network Members, it is anticipated that existing organizational policies align with these Principles; Partner and Associate Members are not subject to certification and therefore are not required to adopt them, but are encouraged to do so. The Principles embody the spirit of 'open science' meant to unite diverse communities of data producers and data users, and thus could be adopted by anyone pursuing science for the public good.

Principles

Data, metadata, products, and information should be fully and openly shared, subject to national or international jurisdictional laws and policies, including respecting appropriate extant restrictions, and in accordance with international standards of ethical research conduct.

Data, metadata, products, and information produced for research, education, and publicdomain use will be made available with minimum time delay and free of charge, or for no more than the cost of dissemination, which may be waived for lower-income user communities to support equity in access.

All who produce, share, and use data and metadata are stewards of those data, and have responsibility for ensuring that the authenticity, quality, and integrity of the data are preserved, and respect for the data source is maintained by ensuring privacy where appropriate, and encouraging appropriate citation of the dataset and original work and acknowledgement of the data repository.

Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised1 shall govern ICSU-WDS for cases in which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws and any special rules that ICSU-WDS may adopt.

Amendment

These Bylaws shall be amended by the WDS-SC after consultation with WDS Members at any of their regular or special meetings, or by electronic consultation.

More information is available on the PDF.