When is a data release required for laboratory quality-control results? [213]

Laboratory quality-control results are considered scientific data when they are generated during a laboratory method validation. Laboratory method validation is an in-depth evaluation of the method’s performance through a range of defined performance characteristics to demonstrate that the method is appropriate for the intended use. The quality-control results from a method validation are the basis for concluding the method is valid, which is why those quality-control results are considered scientific data. When laboratory quality-control results are used as the basis for scientific conclusions or if the quality control results are used as the basis of an interpretive investigation or report, these data must be released in an acceptable digital repository for USGS scientific data in accordance with Survey Manual Chapter 502.8 and the USGS Public Access Plan.

Generally, laboratory quality-control results are not considered scientific data when they are generated during ongoing checks or from laboratory verifications. A laboratory verification is an evaluation of the ability of a specific laboratory to perform an already validated method under laboratory-specific conditions.  Quality-control results from ongoing checks and laboratory verifications are ancillary to the sample results and provide supportive evidence of the accuracy and reliability of the sample results or are generated to check that an instrument or laboratory process is operating as expected. In these situations, laboratory quality-control results are not required to be publicly released because they are not the basis for scientific conclusions. However, similar to method validations, laboratory verification quality-control results must be released when those results are the basis of an interpretive investigation or report.