A Study of Policies and Approaches of Open Access of Astronomical Observational Data

In the new century astronomy is entering an era in which research activities are driven by intense observational data. Intense data have become major sources for scientific discoveries. In China astronomical community and facilities are undergoing fast development following the steady economic expansion of the country. There are about to be an explosive growth of astronomical data resulting from Chinese astronomical projects. To build an open data-access environment becomes crucial for long-term development of astronomy in China. In this paper we first investigate laws and policies of various governments and international organizations on open data access. Our investigation follows the analyses of the principle of 'full and open access to data' in foreign countries and covers current policies/rules about open access of scientific data in China. Particularly, we focus on the policies of major projects of telescopes and data centers around the world. We have also covered several related issues, including specifications of data resources, durations of data priority, rules of data archiving, policies of data publication, and conventions of data citation/acknowledgement. In the second part of the paper we discuss datasets from major Chinese astronomical telescopes/research projects and the situation of open access to such datasets. We list difficulties and challenges faced by Chinese astronomers to provide full and open access to astronomical data archives. We finally give six specific recommendations to improve open data access in China: (1) To establish and refine laws and policies for open data access; (2) to construct effective administrative systems for astronomical data archiving and access in related government branches and academic institutes; (3) to establish some national or regional astronomical data center(s); (4) to further research on key technologies of collection, processing, analyzing, archiving, sharing, and access of astronomical data; (5) to train scientists and engineers working for data archiving and access; (6) to publicize astronomical data archives and extend scientific applications of data archives.