Institutional policies and procedures

Institutional policies and procedures, which might include guidelines, protocols and standards, are fundamental to good research data management.  These should:

• support the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 
• be up to date
• address data-related issues (many institutions already have policies on the topics listed below but these may pre-date the latest version of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research)
• be widely publicised to all those who have a role in ensuring that research data is well managed, ie researchers, data managers
  
• include compliance measures.

In some instances, research institutions have sensibly opted to combine policies on topics which are related. In some cases, policies may not specifically mention data.  However, all policies and procedures do need to be consistent with, supportive of and supported by the institution’s overall research data management policy.

Research data management  

A number of ANDS guides deal with research data management policy.

• Research Data Policy and the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
• What is research data?

The Research Data Management Policy Outline provides a list of elements which an institution may wish to consider when drawing up, or updating, its research data management policy.   
The following examples of research data management policies and procedures show different institutional approaches to the issue of research data management. In some cases, research data management policy is incorporated into the institutional policy on the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

• Griffith University. Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (Section 6: Management of Research Data and Primary Materials) 
• James Cook University. Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.Part 2: Management of Research Data and Primary Materials 
• Queensland University of Technology. Management of Research Data Policy 
• University of Melbourne. Management of Data and Research Records Policy
• University of New South Wales. Research Code of Conduct.  Section 8. Management of Research Material and Data 
• University of New South Wales. Procedure for Handling Research Material and Data  
• University of Newcastle. Research Data and Materials Management Policy
• University of Newcastle. Research Data and Materials Management Procedure 
• The Research Data Management Policy  from the University of Edinburgh does not reference the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. However, it may serve as a current international example of a policy for managing research data.

Records management

Research data created by Australian universities and other publicly-funded research institutions are subject to the Australian Freedom of Information Act, or to relevant State legislation in the same way as data created by government departments.  For further information, see the website of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Research data storage

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research requires that sufficient data be retained to justify the outcomes of research and to defend such outcomes should they be challenged.  For this reason, the storage of research data may not be the subject of institutional policies, but may well require procedures. See, for example:

• University of Newcastle.  Research Data Storage Facility Procedure 

Access to data, databases & archives

Issues related to access to data and archives may not require a specific policy as they may be dealt with in a more general research data management policy.  The procedures around access, however, may be complex and require stated procedures.

Retention of materials & research data following a research project

Universities are guided by the requirements of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research which sets out retention periods for research data, research records and primary materials.  In addition, there is need to consider

• specific provisions set out in Commonwealth and State legislation concerning archives and record keeping, especially those materials of heritage value,
• discipinary requirements, and
  
• possibly other regulatory requirements.

The following two examples demonstrate the kinds of procedures required.

• Griffith University. Schedule of Retention Periods for Research Data and Primary Materials
• University of South Australia. Ownership and Retention of Research Data 

ANDS Discussion Paper - Selection and Appraisal [PDF 203KB]

Collaborative research projects

The creation of data may well be an output of any collaborative research project.  Policy issues include:

• responsibility for disposal, retention, storage and access in both the short and long term
• intellectual property, copyright and patents (which may be more appropriately handled in the institutions policies relating to these).

Ethics and privacy

Issues of data management and re-use need be addressed in relation to ethics and privacy.  These in turn relate to disposal, retention, storage and access, all of which may be dealt with in separate policies and procedures.

ANDS Guide - Ethics, Consent and Data Sharing

Data sharing & re-use

Issues to be addressed about data sharing and re-use include:

• institutional expectations concerning the sharing of data generated by its researchers
• defining responsibilities within the institution for all activities associated with ongoing access to data (identification, curation, etc)
• outlining responsibilities and expectations associated with the use of data brought in from third parties.

Secure & safe disposal of research data

The following examples show different ways of addressing the issue of record disposal, for both digital and non-digital data.

• Charles Darwin University. Research Data Management Guidelines  [PDF 39.5KB]
  
• Monash University. Secure Destruction 
  
• Murdoch University.  Managing Research Materials and Data: Recordkeeping Guidelines [PDF 218KB]
  

Intellectual property, copyright, patents & data licensing

A number of ANDS guides provide information on this topic.

• Copyright and Data
  
• Creative Commons and Data 
• AusGOAL - Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework
• ANDS webpage - Data Re-use and Licensing Frameworks

Institutional policies need not distinguish between data and other forms of intellectual property to be effective. See for example:

• Queensland University of Technology. Intellectual Property Policy

The Australian Universities IP Policies Summary document on the CAIRSS website has been updated as of 25 July 2012. The updated document can be found at Copyright Tools [PDF 400KB].

Use of third party data

There can be implications for managing third party data (ie data brought in from other data suppliers).  See, for example, the guidelines on Using Third Party Content

Feedback

ANDS is keen to have comments and suggestions about these materials.  Please send to guides@ands.org.au.