TERMS OF USE: Contributing and using ISIMIP simulation data

By submitting data to or downloading data from the ISIMIP archive, you agree to the following terms of use:

1. For all data uploaded to the ISIMIP repository at DKRZ, an initial format check will be conducted. You will be informed by email about any identified issues arising from the format test, which may require you to reprocess your data. You will receive an email detailing the necessary steps. Once all issues are solved, your simulation data will be made available to all ISIMIP modelling groups and associated scientists via the internal, password protected, ISIMIP repository at DKRZ.
2. During an initial embargo period (see special case for ISIMIP2b), data will be stored in the internal ISIMIP repository at DKRZ. The embargo period will be at least one year from the final publication of the protocol (on www.isimip.org) and input data for a given simulation round. The start (and end) of the embargo period may not coincide for all sectors due to different input-data requirements. The embargo dates will be available on the ISIMIP website. During this period:
3. After the embargo period (see special case for ISIMIP2b), modelling groups will be asked whether their simulation data can now be transferred to the ISIMIP ESGF, with an appropriate sector and simulation-round specific DOI (see notes on DOI below). This will make the data publicly available according to the restrictions detailed in the DOI, and no longer subject to co-authorship restrictions or approval of the modelling groups. If modelling groups do not agree to publication on the ESGF, long-term storage of the data cannot be guaranteed on the DKRZ server.
4. Modelers are entirely free to use their own model’s simulation data at any time for any purpose.

We invite modellers to enter your modelling team's details using this form, so that you are kept informed about the papers being written, in which your data could potentially be used. This way, you can ensure that your data is uploaded in time to be used in the papers, and therefore that you will be offered co-authorship.

All data users and contributers should be aware of the following workflow:

Note: 'embargo period' is the time up until the acceptance deadline for the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of 1.5°C global warming (April, 2018)

1. Once your simulations are ready and you upload your data to the DKRZ server, an initial quality check will be conducted, to ensure that the files adhere to the ISIMIP file format.
2. You will be contacted when the quality check is complete. Your data will then be immediately available for use by other ISIMIP2b participants on the DKRZ server. Authors of papers submitted during the embargo period, in which your data are used, are obliged to offer co-authorship to a representative of your modelling team.
3. When the quality check is complete, you will be asked if your data can now be transferred to the ISIMIP ESGF, making them publicly available. As for internal use of your data, all authors (including non-ISIMIP scientists) of papers submitted during the embargo period, in which your data are used, are obliged to offer co-authorship to a representative of your modelling team.
4. Authors of papers submitted during the embargo period should offer co-authorship to the sector coordinators for the sectors relevant to the paper.

Addendum (22 December, 2016): applicable to all simulation data submitted for the ISIMIP Fast Track, ISIMIP2a, future simulation rounds, and for ISIMIP2b data submitted after April, 2018:

1. For all data uploaded to the ISIMIP repository at DKRZ, the initial quality check will be conducted.
2. You will be contacted once the quality check is complete and your simulation data will immediately be made available to all ISIMIP modelling groups and associated scientists.
3. When the quality check is complete, you will be asked if your data can now be transferred to the ISIMIP ESGF server, making them publicly available without restriction, and not subject to co-authorship restrictions. You will be given the option to delay publication of your simulation data by up to one year following the successful quality check.
4. Whilst it is central to the goals of ISIMIP that the simulation data be made available for use beyond the immediate ISIMIP modelling community, in the case of exceptional circumstances, such as relating to commercial proprietary restrictions, data can be kept only on the internal ISIMIP (DKRZ) server. In this case, the availability of the data will be noted on the ISIMIP website, allowing interested parties to request access.
5. You are free to use your own model’s simulation data at any time for any purpose you deem fit.

• The DOI refers to a specific instance of the data ensemble at the time of transfer to the ISIMIP ESGF. In the case of data replacements after this time, a new DOI must be issued.
• The preferred license to be used by all models is CC BY 4.0. This can be changed to CC BY-NC 4.0 (non-commercial use only) for individual models on request.
• The DOI citation lists all relevant model-contact people, as well as contributing scientists. The model contact people will be based on this list. It is the responsibility of the contact people to ensure that the list of contributing scientists is complete.

• When replacing already quality-checked data, an email must be sent to info@isimip.org, as well as the appropriate sector coordinator.
• Replacement of already quality-checked data (i.e. data in the DKRZ directories /[SIMULATION-ROUND]/OutputData/ or on the ISIMIP ESGF) are documented in the output data change log. These changes are also sent by email in a digest to all contact people of participating models and all those with access to the internal ISIMIP repository at DKRZ.
• Replacement of published data on the ESGF server requires a new DOI to be issued. Please report any issues to info@isimip.org and the coordination team will ensure a new DOI is issued. Changes will also be reported via the output data change log and information will be sent to all registered data users.
• It is the responsibility of paper lead authors to ensure that they have used the most up-to-date data version before submitting a paper. Modellers included as co-authors should actively communicate any updates of their data to the lead-author.

IMPORTANT To ensure that you are using the most up-to-date version of the simulation data, you should check the output data changelog. You are responsible for ensuring that the data you use is up to date before submitting publications.

For data limited to non-commercial research and educational purposes:

a) I agree to restrict my use of ISI-MIP model output to NON-COMMERCIAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. For research to be considered non-commercial, its end products (in the form of data sets, reports, and other publications) must not be considered proprietary, and they must be made generally available through open publication or by equally accessible means. Materials prepared for educational purposes cannot be sold. These restrictions may only be relaxed by permission of the individual modeling groups responsible for the simulations.

For unrestricted data:

a) I understand that the subset of ISIMIP model output that will be made accessible to this group has been designated for "unrestricted" use.

For both groups of users, the terms of use include these additional statements:

b) I will hold no individual(s), organization(s), or group(s) responsible for any errors in the models or in their output data.
c) In publications that rely on the ISIMIP model output, I will appropriately credit the data providers by an acknowledgment similar to the following:

"For their roles in producing, coordinating, and making available the ISIMIP model output, we acknowledge the modeling groups (listed in Table XX of this paper) and the ISIMIP cross sectoral science team."

where Table XX in your paper should list the models and modeling groups that provided the data you have used. The names of the modelers and their institutes are specified in the meta data of each data set and file.

d) I acknowledge the potential limitations of the data obtained from this archive. These may include (but are not necessarily limited to) errors in the models, shortcomings in the experiment designs, the conjectural quality of the forcing scenarios used to drive the models, and so on.
e) I understand that although the model output has been subjected to a quality control procedure, unrecognized errors almost certainly remain.
f) To aid participating modelling groups in understanding and improving their models, I will respond to reasonable requests from ISIMIP cross-sectoral science team for feedback about my ISIMIP research results (e.g. reporting model deficiencies). As soon as my ISIMIP based paper is published I will provide the associated reference to the ISIMIP cross-sectoral science team.
g) These data are freely and publicly available. Sale of the data is strictly forbidden.

For the ISIMIP Fast Track, some modeling groups have provide information about individual model restrictions here. For all later simulation rounds, the models are documented in the ISIMIP model data base.

See tables below for licences associated to individual models for a specific simulation round. See this table for the ISIMIP Fast Track licences, this table for ISIMIP2a licences, and this table for ISIMIP2b licences.

Users may share data with close collaborators or internally among their institutional staff who have agreed to abide by the above terms of use.