=LSF= RDA Data Center

[The.Rolling.Stoned]

ENCRYPTION: High
PRIORITY:Medium
COMM ID:Captain Martin Welch
SUBJECT: Science

Scientific Collaboration
The guidelines here are discussed in terms of a collaboration involving a supplier (e.g., of reagents, expertise, specialized equipment, data, methods, or computer code) (Party 1) and a receiver (Party 2). The options in each section are listed in order of increasing involvement by Party 1 in the collaboration.


Sharing of reagents and data.
-Minimal: Reagents or data will be provided that are essentially as described in published description, and Party 1 warrants that these will be prepared, stored, and shipped in a manner that will preserve their value. Party 2 will pay the costs of shipping. If the reagent is not readily available in the supplier's laboratory and there are no plans to prepare more, Party 2 may be asked to share reasonable costs of preparing the reagent for shipping.
-Option 1: Party 1 will give all available information, based on unpublished results, to help the receiver save time and use the reagents in an optimal fashion. (For example, when supplying an antibody for immunohistochemistry, the supplier will suggest a proven range of dilutions, buffers, and fixatives.)
Option 2: Both parties will describe the nature of unpublished information related to ongoing experiments in their respective laboratories, in sufficient detail that the parties can decide whether it is mutually to their benefit to share unpublished information, in whole or in part.

Design of experiments.
-Minimal: Party 1 will not be privy to details of the intended use of the reagents or data, beyond those necessary to prepare the reagents adequately.
-Option 1: Party 2 will describe the design of their experiments and invite comments from Party 1. Any suggestions that are implemented will be considered part of an active collaboration and credited appropriately.
-Option 2: Both parties will contribute actively to the design of experiments, including control experiments.

Division of labor.
- Minimal: Party 1 provides reagents/expertise/equipment/data but does not participate in the experiments of Party 2.
-Option 1: Party 1 provides training and specialized expertise to personnel of Party 2, thus facilitating the work, but does not carry out the research directly.
-Option 2: Both parties participate in experiments, but each does the subset of experiments they are most experienced, knowledgeable, or comfortable with and the other group(s) do the same with nonoverlapping subsets of experiments.
Option 3: Party 1 provides assistance with personnel and training to help with Party 2's experiments, forming an interlaboratory team that has ongoing communication during experiments and that shares the costs of doing the research.

Publication of results stemming from the collaboration.
-Minimal: Party 2 will acknowledge the source of the reagent or data in their publications, and will cite the providers' relevant publications that described the reagent and its use.
-Option 1: Party 1 will be given a copy of the manuscript prior to publication and given the option to be included in the list of authors, unless Party 1 disagrees materially with the paper, or fails to answer in a reasonable time frame.
-Option 2: Both parties participate in writing the paper, and the resulting publication spells out the contributions of each.

Co-authorship order.
-Minimal: Party 2 will write the paper and choose the order of authorship that Party 2 feels is fair and appropriate.
-Option 1: At the time that a decision is made to offer co-authorship to Party 1, Party 2 will discuss the planned order of authors and the rationale with Party 1.
-Option 2: As the experiments are being designed and planned, both parties will be apprised of the relative roles of individuals in both laboratories, and a tentative co-author list will be discussed. Any changes will be discussed in advance of writing the paper.

Access to unpublished data arising from the collaboration.
- Minimal: Party 1 has no right to access to any data obtained by Party 2.
- Option 1: Party 2 will give basic feedback on how the material supplied by Party 1 was used.
- Option 2: Party 2 shares the specific results obtained with Party 1, with the understanding that such information is confidential and cannot be used by Party 1 without the written consent of Party 2.
- Option 3: Party 1 has access to data originally intended for publication under joint authorship, whether or not the data are actually published. The unpublished data can be used by Party 1 in their grant submissions and for their own knowledge.
- Option 4: Both parties will discuss the types of experiments that are being conducted in the general area of the collaboration, and will discuss which activities (beyond the joint experiments) should be shared knowledge.

Intellectual property issues. Negotiations of intellectual property issues fall beyond the scope of the present guidelines. However, potential collaborators should at least acknowledge the types of intellectual property issues that may arise in the course of the collaboration.
- Minimal: Party 2 does not share in any intellectual property related to the existing reagent or data.
- Optional: If the joint experiments or data analyses result in new information or uses having commercial value, both parties will negotiate shared intellectual property.
Welch out..