TY  - JOUR
AU  - Baek, Jinyoung
AU  - Lawson, Jonathan
AU  - Rahimzadeh, Vasiliki
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/3/20
TI  - Investigating the Roles and Responsibilities of Institutional Signing Officials After Data Sharing Policy Reform for Federally Funded Research in the United States: National Survey
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e49822
VL  - 8
KW  - biomedical research
KW  - survey
KW  - surveys
KW  - data sharing
KW  - data management
KW  - secondary use
KW  - National Institutes of Health
KW  - signing official
KW  - information sharing
KW  - exchange
KW  - access
KW  - data science
KW  - accessibility
KW  - policy
KW  - policies
AB  - Background: New federal policies along with rapid growth in data generation, storage, and analysis tools are together driving scientific data sharing in the United States. At the same, triangulating human research data from diverse sources can also create situations where data are used for future research in ways that individuals and communities may consider objectionable. Institutional gatekeepers, namely, signing officials (SOs), are therefore at the helm of compliant management and sharing of human data for research. Of those with data governance responsibilities, SOs most often serve as signatories for investigators who deposit, access, and share research data between institutions. Although SOs play important leadership roles in compliant data sharing, we know surprisingly little about their scope of work, roles, and oversight responsibilities. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe existing institutional policies and practices of US SOs who manage human genomic data access, as well as how these may change in the wake of new Data Management and Sharing requirements for National Institutes of Health–funded research in the United States. Methods: We administered an anonymous survey to institutional SOs recruited from biomedical research institutions across the United States. Survey items probed where data generated from extramurally funded research are deposited, how researchers outside the institution access these data, and what happens to these data after extramural funding ends. Results: In total, 56 institutional SOs participated in the survey. We found that SOs frequently approve duplicate data deposits and impose stricter access controls when data use limitations are unclear or unspecified. In addition, 21% (n=12) of SOs knew where data from federally funded projects are deposited after project funding sunsets. As a consequence, most investigators deposit their scientific data into “a National Institutes of Health–funded repository” to meet the Data Management and Sharing requirements but also within the “institution’s own repository” or a third-party repository. Conclusions: Our findings inform 5 policy recommendations and best practices for US SOs to improve coordination and develop comprehensive and consistent data governance policies that balance the need for scientific progress with effective human data protections. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e49822
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/49822
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38506894
DO  - 10.2196/49822
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/49822
ER  -