In addition, premature disclosure also jeopardizes the scientific process because many professional journals may be reluctant to publish articles that contain previously available and publicized data. This would hamper the dissemination of findings throughout the research community and make raw data available without subjecting them to the rigorous peer review process conducted by these journals. Premature release of research data could also pose problems relating to ownership of valuable intellectual property. Ownership or origin of research data are not easily determined. Data come in many forms, such as writings in notebooks, printouts from machines, entries in medical records, and computer-generated drawings.
Data can also originate under many different scenarios.
There are data which are brought by the investigator to the project, data which are provided to the project from another source, data generated under private funding which are then added to data generated under federal funding, and, finally, data generated in such a manner that it would be impossible to determine what the source of funds was that created the record. In sum, raw data do not always come in discrete packages or in such a manner that it is easy to determine their origin. Confidentiality of medical information may be compromised by release of certain data, even if the names of human subjects are masked. National security information must be protected. Information that is proprietary or has commercial value must be protected.