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Research data management: Policies

A guide to managing and sharing research data, with information about University policies and services

Research data policies

The University's Research Data Management Policy (PDF) sets out the requirements that researchers and research students must observe in the management, preservation and sharing of research data. The policy document includes guidance linked to relevant pages in this website, so that supporting information is contextualised and easily accessible.

The University supports the principle stated in UKRI's Common principles on research data, that 'publicly funded research data are a public good, produced in the public interest, which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner'.

Researchers and research students have a responsibility to take care of the data they collect while working and studying at the University, and to manage them in accordance with any relevant funders' policies. In particular, researchers are required to preserve and share data that support published research findings by depositing them in a suitable data repository.

All research at the University, however it may be funded, is undertaken as part of our mission to promote wider social and economic benefit. We believe that the sharing of data supports open scholarly enquiry, promotes transparency in research, and allows for the greatest possible benefit to be realised from the resources invested in research.

Research data, by being well managed, can generate benefits for both the University and its researchers in terms of greater research impact, enhanced reputation, and increased return on investment.

Many funders, including the Research Councils, the European Commission, the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust, have policies requiring researchers to preserve and share data that support research findings.

The following elements are common to many funders' policies:

  • Some funders ask applicants for grant funding to include a data management plan (DMP) in their application. Where this is required, the DMP must be reviewed by the Research Data Manager prior to submission. See the section on Grant applications for more details and funder-specific guidance.
  • Data supporting the research outcomes should be preserved and shared on completion of the project and publication of findings by being deposited in a suitable public data repository wherever possible. While access to data may be restricted with justification (for example, to protect confidential information), data should be made as accessible as possible, and appropriate measures should be taken to enable data sharing (for example, anonymising participant-derived data, and using controlled-access repositories to manage higher-risk data). See the section on Data preservation and sharing for more information.
  • Effective data management requires time and effort, and may require the use of paid-for resources/services, e.g. for storage and archiving. It is appropriate to request funds for data management activities and costs, and these should be priced into project budgets where relevant.

The Digital Curation Centre provides summaries of the policies of some of the major funders of research.

UKRI Common principles on research data

UKRI's Common principles on research data articulate a framework for research data policies that is subscribed to by all the Research Councils. The keystone of this framework is the first principle:

Publicly funded research data are a public good, produced in the public interest, which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner that does not harm intellectual property.

 

From this follow the other principles, which can be summarised in the following terms:

  • Data with acknowledged long-term value should be preserved and remain accessible and usable for future research.
  • Published results should include information on how to access the supporting data, in the form of a data availability statement and a full data citation.
  • Not all data can or should be shared. There may be legal, ethical and commercial constraints on release of research data.
  • Researchers are entitled to a limited period of privileged use of the data they have collected, to enable them to publish the results of their research, but this privilege is temporary and in most cases should not extend beyond the data that resarch findings are placed on public record. 
  • Re-use of existing data should acknowledge the source of the data to ensure proper attribution of credit and should abide by any terms of use that apply to the data.
  • The management and sharing of data is integral to research activity and it is appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.

Many other public funders in the UK and worldwide subscribe to these or similar broad principles, and many will provide funding in support of data management and sharing activities.