Q: What action should I take if I am not being permitted to publish my research outcome?

Detailed Question -

I am a graduate student. I was going to publish my research outcome with the experimental data that I had measured [obtained], but the university told me that they would not permit me to do so as the data belongs to the university from the perspective of intellectual property (IP) and confidentiality. However, I still intend to publish the outcome with the university's name as my affiliation.

Given the situation, I am thinking about what I should do. Should I file a civil suit to obtain permission from the university or should I publish without their permission, of course after getting agreement from the coauthors? What should I do?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Thank you for reaching out to us with your predicament. At the outset, we’d like to mention that publishing the manuscript using data that is under controversy without the permission of the university would not be advisable. There could be numerous ramifications, including a possible retraction (eventually) and impact on your career progression. Hence, we would advise ruling out this option.

The answer would vary by country, institution, and even by department within a given institution. In Japan, before 2003, major national research universities were bound by the rules of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and were unable to own IP rights. However, effective April 2004, national universities are a legal entity to own IP rights and have the flexibility to set their own rules to manage such rights. (Eefer to page no. 384 in this document.)

Also, according to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “Most universities recognize as a general principle that students who are not employees of the university own the IP rights in the works they produce purely based on knowledge received from lectures and teaching. However, there may be some circumstances where ownership has to be shared or assigned to the university or a third party.” (View the question ‘Who owns IP generated by students?’ on this page.) Basically, a university has ownership of primary data generated in the course of research undertaken by researchers in its employment (assuming there is no external contract) and the university does not own student IP, unless the data is produced with the significant involvement of university employees.

With this background, please consider the following scenarios and possibilities.

  • Were there any agreements with your advisor to start with? You might need to look back to see if there were any verbal or written agreements at the start of your project regarding ownership of data. Universities and departments might differ on their policies regarding data ownership. If it had been established that the data generated from the proposed study was not meant to be shared, the agreement will need to be honored, and you may need to step back. For future projects, be sure to clarify and establish various aspects around data ownership.
  • Is the nature of the research such that it warrants confidentiality (e.g., military research or some other sensitive government project)? If so, there might be some embargo period after which you might be able to publish the data. You could consider discussing this from that angle with the university officials.
  • If you are no longer a student there, could they be worried that you will claim sole credit without attributing the university? If so, you need to reassure them that you intend to mention the university as the affiliation.
  • Does your university have a technology transfer office (TTO)? They might be able to guide you about this too.

Finally, instead of a formal litigation process (as you are contemplating), you could consider alternative dispute resolution routes such as mediation or arbitration. However, in case you still wish to consider a legal recourse, it is advisable to consult a legal expert to understand the merits of your case. Also, consult all the authors on the possible actions to take (as applicable to the scenario closest to the one you are in, as discussed above), because you can go ahead only with a consensus.

Our best wishes for an amicable, successful resolution.

For a somewhat related situation faced by another research and our response to them, you may also go through this query: Can the order of the authors be changed after the ethics committee approval and before completing the study?

And for further insights into the various ethical challenges researchers need to deal with on a regular basis, you may also find this course relevant: An overview of ethical issues in scientific research [Note: It’s by R Upskill, a sister brand offering learning programs for various aspects of a researcher’s work and life, such as writing, submission, communication, and career progression.]

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