LungMAP Data Access Policy

The LungMAP Data Release Policy is intended to ensure that data are made as freely and openly available as possible while protecting the rights of data generators to be the first to present or publish large-scale analyses of their results, in accordance with the Fort Lauderdale principles.

LungMAP acknowledges that some data generators, particularly those with limited analytic resources, may be hesitant to share their data in this way or may be restricted by regional ethical, legal, or regulatory requirements. To accommodate such variations, this policy incorporates flexible provisions while prioritizing rapid data release and broad reuse. The policy will be periodically reviewed and revised as needed.

Mission

The mission of LungMAP is to create comprehensive reference maps of the developing and diseased lung across species, cell types, and modalities, as a basis for understanding human health and for advancing diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of lung disease.

Following the precedent of pioneering open science projects such as the Human Genome Project and the 1000 Genomes Project, LungMAP aims for rapid, open, and broad dissemination of data through the LungMAP Data Browser to the extent permitted by ethical and legal compliance, and in line with the Fort Lauderdale principles.

LungMAP recognizes the essential contributions of donors, patients, investigators, trainees, and staff, and balances their rights to recognition and first publication with the collective benefits of timely community access to these data.

General Data Sharing Policy

Data Sharing

  • Data uploaded to the LungMAP Data Browser should be complete and made available as soon as possible after generation, subject to applicable patient/donor consent restrictions and legal regulations.
  • Data should be released in accordance with Fort Lauderdale principles, enabling reuse while protecting the rights of data producers.
  • Raw data may not be provided directly in the LungMAP Data Browser, but rather may be available only through the LungMAP, dbGAP, and BioDataCatalyst. 

Data Use

  • Data can be used for publications by the data accessor prior to the original authors describing the available data in an independent published study. However, the data accessor is encouraged to consult with the original noted authors to ensure they are properly citing the data generation, protocols, and metadata.
  • All publications or presentations using LungMAP data must:
    1. Reference the dataset(s) LungMAP accession number (i.e., LMEX0000004412). Each LungMAP data release will have an accession, and datasets within a release (e.g., corresponding to individual studies or publications) will also have their own accession.
    2. Acknowledge the data-generating laboratory(s) and LungMAP, using attribution text provided by the Data Browser.
    3. Cite the most recent LungMAP publications describing the Data Browser, relevant data releases, and/or dataset accessions, and refer to the web portal: https://data-browser.lungmap.net/.

Courtesy and Communication

  • Data users are encouraged to notify the data generators when using unreleased or recently released datasets, as a courtesy.
  • In cases of uncertainty, secondary users should contact data generators to agree upon an appropriate and fair scope for data use.

Review and Updates

This policy will be revisited regularly to reflect evolving best practices in open science, the LungMAP community’s needs, and international standards for ethical and legal compliance in data sharing.