Developing a model guidelines addressing legal impediments to open access to publicly funded research data in Malaysia

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a model guidelines addressing legal impediments to open access to publicly funded research data in Malaysia. Previous studies have identified legal impediments to open access arising from intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy, national security, patent and tort laws. The legal impediments have not been fully addressed by public research funding agencies in Malaysia, thus the need for a model guidelines to be developed. This study conducted a comparative analysis of the principles/policies/guidelines on open access to research data of the civil society, government bodies, research funding agencies and research institutions in Australia, Canada, the EU, the UK and the USA. This comparative analysis attempts to identify the appropriate measures to address the legal impediments to open access to research data. This model guidelines is of international standard and suitable for adoption by public research funding agencies and research institutions in Malaysia. Hence, the model guidelines can become a benchmark in pursuing the objective of enabling open access to publicly funded research data in Malaysia.