In signing a Research Agreement with a public body for access to data, Researchers commit to sending Research Materials (or "pre-publication materials") to the public body in advance of public dissemination. Data Stewards, as those responsible for ensuring appropriate uses of the public body’s data, check that:
- Privacy/confidentiality requirements are upheld, including minimum cell sizes, no inadvertent or unapproved identification of specific populations or communities
- There is no gross misuse of the data
- There is a clear connection to the Project and alignment with the stated and approved purpose
- The data is appropriately referenced and a disclaimer is included
This also provides an opportunity for Data Stewards to learn of, and brief internally on, the research findings.
Experience has shown that not all Researchers have the same understanding of what is required, and that public bodies vary in their expectations and timelines. In order to enhance communications and compliance around review requirements for the public disclosure of Research Materials, a single set of review requirements has been agreed upon by Population Data BC (PopData) and our Data Steward partners (including the BC Ministry of Health). These are summarised below.
Note: Please check your Research Agreement to see if other Data Steward partners have different pre-publication requirements to make sure you are compliant. PopData is in the process of harmonizing requirements with all Data Steward partners, but this work is not yet finalised.
- New review requirements
ALL Research Materials that result from your project must be provided to the Data Stewards. There are TWO categories of Research Materials: Materials for REVIEW and Materials for NOTICE.
Materials for REVIEW
Materials for REVIEW are those intended for public dissemination that are based on, include, or offer novel (new) interpretations of the Protected Data, including Derived Data. These are subject to review timelines before dissemination and should be submitted to Data Stewards for review as soon as is practicable (i.e. all data and data analysis is complete, content is complete, but formatting can be incomplete).
- Review of presentation materials, including those for lectures and conferences (should be submitted 7 business days prior to presentation)
- Review of publication materials, including scholarly articles, theses, dissertations, and articles for popular audiences (should be submitted 45 business days prior to publication/release)
- Review of instructional materials (should be submitted 45 business days prior to release)
- Radio, television, or internet-based interview materials not previously reviewed must be submitted as soon as practicable and must otherwise comply with publication requirements (should be submitted as soon as the Researcher is aware of the interview and talking points are ready). Note: Researchers can NOT publish/release Research Materials until the material has been reviewed (i.e. the above timelines have passed since submission of the materials and/or confirmation from the Data Steward and/or PopData). Note: Please see FAQ for examples of publications that require review.
Materials for NOTICE
Materials for Notice are those which DO NOT disseminate novel (new) data or novel (new) interpretations of the Protected Data, including Derived Data. That is, they are not subject to review timelines, but are submitted to Data Stewards for information as soon as is practicable (i.e. all data and data analysis is complete, content is complete, but formatting can be incomplete).
- Updated versions of previously submitted materials
- Radio, television, or internet-based interview materials based on materials already reviewed
- Opinion editorials, commentaries and other popularized material that relates to the Project based on materials already reviewed and accepted
Other
Any other material relating to the Project and Protected Data being considered for presentation should be reviewed for mutual acceptance of process and timelines.
Quick reference guide
Type of Research Material Submission to Data Steward required Citation requirement Disclaimer requirement When to submit? Presentations: seminars, conferences, lectures Conference abstract yes no no At time of submission to conference (initial submission) (at least 7 business days prior to abstract publication/public release) Presentations to colleagues no no yes Not required Presentations (audience outside of colleagues) yes no yes At least 7 business days prior to presentation Instructional use (lectures, lab exercises, etc.) yes no yes At least 7 business days prior to delivery Publications: articles, op-ed, journals, theses and dissertations Article or Op-ed for general public release (newspaper, magazine, blog, wiki, etc.) yes yes yes At time of submission (at least 45 business days prior to publication/release) Abstract (article, monograph, thesis, or other manuscript etc.) submitted alone yes no no At time of submission (at least 7 business days prior to publication) Journal publication, including pre-prints yes yes yes At time of submission to the journal (initial submission) (at least 45 business days prior to publication/release) Academic thesis or dissertation material
Please note: All thesis and dissertations completed as part of a larger project MUST be pre-approved by the Data Stewards BEFORE the student engages in the workyes yes yes At time of final submission to committee (at least 45 business days prior to publication) Other output types Radio, television, internet, etc. interview yes no no At least 7 business days prior to presentation
Examples of publications that require REVIEW versus those that require NOTICEType of Research Output Requiring REVIEW
All materials that have:
- New data analysis
- New data interpretations
Requiring NOTICE
All materials that have:
- No new data analysis
- No new data interpretations
- Been previously reviewed in current or alternative format
Presentations: seminars, conferences, lectures Conference abstract Example: New data finding displayed in an abstract not previously reviewed. Example: Abstract reviewed for Conference A and submitted 3 months later for Conference B. Presentations to colleagues Not applicable Not applicable Presentations (audience outside of colleagues) Example: New data findings displayed in a presentation not previously reviewed. Example 1: Article reviewed and later presented in a PowerPoint presentation.
Example 2: Presentation reviewed for Conference A and submitted 3 months later for Conference B.
Instructional use (lectures, lab exercises, etc.) Example: New data findings displayed in a presentation not previously reviewed. Example: Course materials reviewed for Course A and materials used again for Course B. Publications: articles, op-ed, journals, theses and dissertations Article or Op-ed for general public release (newspaper, magazine, blog, wiki, etc.) Example: New data findings displayed in an article or Op-ed not previously reviewed. Example 1: Article reviewed and later presented in an Op-ed format
Example 2: Presentation reviewed and later presented in an Op-ed format
Abstract (article, monograph, thesis, or other manuscript etc.) submitted alone Example: New data findings displayed in an abstract not previously reviewed. Example: Abstract reviewed for a manuscript and submitted 3 months later for a different publication/article Journal publication, including pre-prints Example: New data findings displayed in a journal publication (including pre-prints) not previously reviewed. Example 1: Pre-print article reviewed and later available as a full journal publication. Academic thesis or dissertation material Example: Thesis not previously reviewed. Example: Thesis required some edits to grammar and table format, no data or data interpretations were altered. Other output types Radio, television, internet, etc. interview Example: Data findings that will be referred to during an interview that have not been previously reviewed. Example: Article reviewed and approved and later findings referenced in an interview. Protocol paper Not applicable Example: Article outlining how a study will be conducted, including data sets intended to be used, without any data analysis conducted of data shown. - Acknowledgments and citing data sources - BC Ministry of Health
The BC Ministry of Health has recently changed its citation requirements. Researchers are no longer required to cite individual data sources in Research Materials for public disclosure. Please follow the instructions below depending on the type of Research Material to be publicly disclosed.
- For journal publications and academic theses or dissertations, the following language MUST be included ONCE in the methodology section (or similar) in the Material.
Access to data provided by the Data Stewards is subject to approval but can be requested for research projects through the Data Stewards or their designated service providers. The following data sets were used in this study: (insert names of data sets here). You can find further information regarding these data sets by visiting the PopData project webpage at: (insert link here*). All inferences, opinions, and conclusions drawn in this publication are those of the author(s), and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Data Steward(s). - For presentations (posters, conferences, seminars, lectures etc.), instructional use (lectures/lab exercises etc.) the following language MUST be included ONCE in the Material:
Further information on the data sets used for this project is at: (insert link to PopData project web page here*). All inferences, opinions, and conclusions drawn in this material are those of the author(s), and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Data Steward(s). - For conference abstracts, interviews (radio, television, internet etc.), articles and op-eds for general public release the following language should be included if possible:
All inferences, opinions, and conclusions drawn in this material are those of the author(s), and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Data Steward(s).
*The link to the webpage for a project is: https://my.popdata.bc.ca/project_listings/insert your project number/
Example: https://my.popdata.bc.ca/project_listings/24-205/
- For journal publications and academic theses or dissertations, the following language MUST be included ONCE in the methodology section (or similar) in the Material.
- Acknowledgements and citing data sources - non Ministry of Health Data Stewards
Disclaimer requirements
The following disclaimer language is required to be included in all Research Materials (with the exception of conference abstracts):
"Access to data provided by the Data Steward(s) is subject to approval, but can be requested for research projects through the Data Steward(s) or their designated service providers. All inferences, opinions, and conclusions drawn in this publication are those of the author(s), and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Data Steward(s).”
Citation requirements
Using the citation standards established by DataCite, there are a number of mandatory and optional elements that are to be included in your citation.
With these elements in place, the generic citation format would appear as follows:
Creator[creator](PublicationYear): Title. Version. Publisher[publisher]. ResourceType. Approver(Year). Identifier
To aid you in developing your data citations, you will find a Table below outlining each element, followed by specific citation examples for each data source.
NEW: Create your own data citations Excel file
Use a new feature in AppTracker, our online project management system, to produce an Excel file of data citations for each of the data releases for your project(s).
To produce this file, follow these steps:
- Log into https://my.popdata.bc.ca/ using your my.popdata account.
- Select the 'Researcher Tools' button, then 'AppTracker'.
- From there, select the project you need the citations for by clicking on its project number.
- Go to the 'Data Preparations' tab. You will see a blue button that says 'Print Data Citation'. By clicking that button, the Excel file will be produced.
Please note for data releases prior to 2019, the citations produced may not be complete. For more information on AppTracker and how to get access to this tool, please visit:https://www.popdata.bc.ca/researchers/resources/AppTracker
Elements Description and instructions Requirement Example Identifier The Identifier is a unique string that identifies a resource, and typically takes the form of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). For the purposes of citing data provided by PopData, a link to PopData's website will be sufficient. Mandatory* http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data Creator The main researchers and/or organizations involved in producing the data, or the authors of the publication, in priority order. Mandatory* BC Cancer
WorkSafeBCTitle A name or title by which a resource is known. Mandatory* BC Cancer Registry Data Publisher A holder of the data. In the case of data sets, "publish" is understood to mean making the data available to the community of researchers. Mandatory* All other titles - Population Data BC Publication year The year the data was published, not the date range for observations in the data set. Data sets are published by PopData in ‘Collections’. Researchers can contact PopData for the data set publication year for a given PopData Collection. Mandatory* YYYY Version Version number of the resource. Data sets are published by PopData in ‘Collections’. Researchers can contact PopData for the data set version for a given PopData Collection. Optional VX (where X is the version number) Resource type The general type of a resource. Optional Data Extract Approver (year) The executive and/or authority who grants access to the data. Typically this role resides within the Creator's organization. The approval year must also be included and can be obtained from PopData. Mandatory* Human Early Learning Partnership, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia, School of Population and Public Health *These elements are currently mandatory for all Data Stewards except the BC Ministry of Health. Note that the ‘Creator’ element is not considered mandatory by BC Cancer.
Examples
Applying this format to specific data requests, the following examples illustrate what the final data citations might look like (note that the publication year, approval year, and version elements would need to be revised and/or removed as needed in the final citations):
BC Cancer
- BC Generations Project Data (2011). V1. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. BC Cancer (2011). http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
- If you used BC Cancer data extracted and provided by PopData
- BC Cancer Registry Data (2011). V2. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. BC Cancer (2011). http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
- If you used BC Cancer data extracted and provided by BC Cancer
- BC Cancer Registry Data (2011). BC Cancer [publisher]. Data Extract. BC Cancer (2011)
Human Early Learning Partnership
- Human Early Learning Partnership [creator] (2011): Early Development Instrument. V2. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. Human Early Learning Partnership. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia, School of Population and Public Health (2011). http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
- Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada [creator] (2011): Permanent Resident database. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. IRCC (2011. http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
Perinatal Services BC
- Perinatal Services BC [creator] (2011): British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. PSBC (2012). http://www.perinatalservicesbc.ca/health-professionals/data-surveillance/perinatal-data-registry
Statistics Canada Income Band
Statistics Canada [creator] (2009): Statistics Canada Income Band Data. Catalogue Number: 13C0016. Population Data BC [publisher]. Data Extract. Population Data BC (2011). http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
WorkSafeBC
- WorkSafeBC [creator] (2011): WorkSafeBC Claims and Firm Level Files. V2. Population Data BC [publisher]. Linked Data Set. WorkSafeBC (2011). http://www.popdata.bc.ca/data
- How to reference Population Data BC
Please use the full name, Population Data BC when referencing Population Data BC in:
- Grant/funding applications
- Conference presentations or discussions
- Interviews or articles
- Reports, papers or other published research outputs
Do not use PDBC or PopData BC or PopData
- Frequently asked questions
Where do I submit my Research Materials for pre-publication review?
Researchers are asked to submit their pre-publication submissions via PopData using our online webform. PopData will distribute research materials to Data Stewards on the researcher’s behalf. This allows PopData to a) track Research Products and support public dissemination of the materials, and b) ensure that there is a uniform coordination of the Research Materials review process, including ensuring that all Data Stewards involved in a project receive the submission.
What are examples of pre-publication materials requiring review versus notice?
Type of Research Output Requiring REVIEW
All materials that have:
- New data analysis
- New data interpretations
Requiring NOTICE
All materials that have:
- No new data analysis
- No new data interpretations
- Been previously reviewed in current or alternative format
Presentations: seminars, conferences, lectures Conference abstract Example: New data finding displayed in an abstract not previously reviewed. Example: Abstract reviewed for Conference A and submitted 3 months later for Conference B. Presentations to colleagues Not applicable Not applicable Presentations (audience outside of colleagues) Example: New data findings displayed in a presentation not previously reviewed. Example 1: Article reviewed and later presented in a PowerPoint presentation.
Example 2: Presentation reviewed for Conference A and submitted 3 months later for Conference B.
Instructional use (lectures, lab exercises, etc.) Example: New data findings displayed in a presentation not previously reviewed. Example: Course materials reviewed for Course A and materials used again for Course B. Publications: articles, op-ed, journals, theses and dissertations Article or Op-ed for general public release (newspaper, magazine, blog, wiki, etc.) Example: New data findings displayed in an article or Op-ed not previously reviewed. Example 1: Article reviewed and later presented in an Op-ed format
Example 2: Presentation reviewed and later presented in an Op-ed format
Abstract (article, monograph, thesis, or other manuscript etc.) submitted alone Example: New data findings displayed in an abstract not previously reviewed. Example: Abstract reviewed for a manuscript and submitted 3 months later for a different publication/article Journal publication, including pre-prints Example: New data findings displayed in a journal publication (including pre-prints) not previously reviewed. Example 1: Pre-print article reviewed and later available as a full journal publication. Academic thesis or dissertation material Example: Thesis not previously reviewed. Example: Thesis required some edits to grammar and table format, no data or data interpretations were altered. Other output types Radio, television, internet, etc. interview Example: Data findings that will be referred to during an interview that have not been previously reviewed. Example: Article reviewed and approved and later findings referenced in an interview. Protocol paper Not applicable Example: Article outlining how a study will be conducted, including data sets intended to be used, without any data analysis conducted of data shown. Can I share my Research Materials with Colleagues without submitting for pre-publication review?
Sharing of results or outputs pre-release with team members and colleagues is an important part of the research process (please refer to our definition of ‘Colleague’ below). In order to maintain the status as not being public, thus not requiring review, it is expected that the information is kept confidential amongst colleagues. Acknowledgement of this in presentations is expected.
What is PopData's definition of Colleague?
A “Colleague” is someone who shares research-related interests. Communications to a colleague are not expected to go public or get distributed. Colleagues may be both within or outside the same institution; both within or outside the same research centre or work unit.
What if my Research Materials have been revised after submission for pre-publication review?
Data Stewards recognize that Research Materials may change after submission for review. That said, they also need to know what information about the project has been made public. It is requested that the Researcher commit to sending only final drafts for review and, if subsequent changes are made, notify the Data Steward of any material changes and provide a copy of the final publication and/or presentation version.
What happens if I fail to submit my Research Materials for pre-publication review?
The Research Agreement that is signed between the public body and the Researcher outlines the Researcher’s legal obligation to submit Research Materials for review. Failure to comply puts the Researcher in breach of this agreement, and could render the Researcher ineligible to access the public body’s data again in the future.
Need to submit Research Materials for review?
If you would like to submit a Research Material for review, please complete an online form by following the relevant link below.
