Publication Policy

The purpose of this policy is twofold: 

  1. To establish high standards of excellence for publications by encouraging appropriate review for all scientific, technical and engineering publications related to Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) research and technical activities prior to publication; and

  2. To ensure SURF is notified of all publications that are based on work performed in whole, or in part, at SURF.

  1. Applicability

This policy concerns collaborating partners (“Users”), employees, contractors and visitors working at or with SURF.

This policy applies to all publications that are based on work performed in whole, or in part, at SURF. For the purposes of this policy, the term “Publication” means any document (in whatever form) such as abstracts, manuscripts and technical papers printed in a professional journal, popular periodical, published as a book or portion of a book (including electronic versions) and is made available to the public. The term includes materials subject to patents or copyrights.

  1. Responsibilities

The SDSTA is not responsible for the validity, opinions, findings, conclusions or methods of the research performed by Users at SURF.

Prior to the publication of any work resulting from the research performed at SURF, it is the responsibility of the author(s), or other person(s) responsible for the content of the publication and/or those who originated or developed the content, to ensure that:

    1. All requirements of any relevant investigator institution’s review processes are met.
    2. Findings adhere to scientific community standards of ethics and values.
    3. All requirements of any applicable funding agencies are met.
    4. The publication contains the appropriate credits, oral acknowledgements, legal disclaimers and patent or copyright notices.
    5. The publication complies with all applicable patent, copyright, intellectual property, and other applicable laws, as well as the requirements of the User’s Memorandum of Understanding with the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority.
  2. Acknowledgements

To the extent possible, publications must contain the appropriate acknowledgement, including the funding source(s); the DOE or other agency contract number; any applicable facility (non-DOE or non-NSF contract number); and/or a disclaimer must appear in the publication of any material whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed under the project, as follows:

    1. Credit line for publications with restricted word counts:

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics: [or list other funding agencies and supporting institutions] and resources of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), which is a federally sponsored research facility under Award Number DE-SC0020216.

    1. Full credit line for research developed with DOE funding (no restricted word count): Note that acknowledgement of the DOE should always include two levels of organization, such as “the Office of Science of the Department of Energy”:

The research supporting this work took place in whole or in part at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota. Funding for this work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics under Contract Number [LIST CONTRACT NUMBERS]. This research was also supported by [INSERT FUNDING AGENCIES AND GRANT/CONTRACT NUMBERS HERE]. The assistance of SURF and its personnel in providing physical access and general logistical and technical support is acknowledged.

    1. Disclaimer:

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof."

    1. Oral acknowledgements—Funding agency support and contributions of the Sanford Lab should also be acknowledged during all news media interviews including popular media such as radio, television and news magazines as well as during presentations of papers at conferences, seminars, colloquia, public outreach presentations, workshops or other proceedings.

Publications produced as a result of research conducted at SURF are one of the measures of the lab’s success. Authors can help by notifying SURF of new publications.

SURF will make every effort to make publications available through the Sanford Lab website. For publications that are not available in the public domain (i.e., published in a journal or other publication with copyright restrictions), the abstract of the publication with information concerning where the full publication can be obtained will be provided through the Sanford Lab website.