1. Who owns research data?

In federally sponsored research, the university owns the data but allows the principal investigator (PI) on the grant to be the steward of the data. The PI takes responsibility for the collection, recording, storage, retention, and disposal of data. The people in a laboratory or on a research project are essentially working for the academic institution, which assigns the rights of the data to the PI. When data are published, the copyright is retained by the PI, who then assigns it to the publisher of the journal. Had the faculty member undertaken a research project on behalf of the university, the university would have the copyright to the data. But since faculty members generally perform research on their own, the copyright belongs to them. Data and data books collected by undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows on a research project belong to the grantee institution, and students should not take their data—although retaining copies of data is allowed, with permission. With industry-funded research, data can belong to the sponsor.