Question
I’ve received a question from a researcher who’s in the final stages of submitting a paper for publication. As part of the submission, the journal is asking that the data used (obtained through the DLI) be either included with his manuscript or archived at a repository like Dryad.
My reading of the open data license tells me this is permissible, but I’d like to confirm that.
He used the DA-level census and NHS profiles.
Answer
While most standard data products available through the DLI (eg: boundary files, ICO, CBP) fall under the Open Licence, there are exceptions which are governed under their own licence agreements:
· Public Use Microdata Files (Appendix 1)
· Postal CodeOM data products (Appendix 2)
· Discharge Abstract Database sample files (Appendix 3)
Data products under these licence agreements cannot be shared with any person outside the licensee’s institution of authenticated users.
The results of this research may be shared, but not the raw data.
The DA-level NHS profile was a semi-custom creation for the DLI, and would fall under the Open Data Licence.
