Research Data Management Policy - December 2024
1. Introduction
The University’s Strategy 2030 outlines its vision to be a global research-intensive university, generating internationally leading research coupled with outstanding teaching and learning, focussed on the needs of society, locally and globally. The University has a proud history of conducting innovative and world-leading research that has changed people’s lives. Its ambition for 2030 is to deliver high quality, world-leading research, which addresses local and global challenges. Within this context, it is recognised that accurate and retrievable research data[1], are an essential component of any research project and that good practice in research data management is central to research excellence.
Research data is a valuable asset and good data management practice can deliver benefits to researchers, the University and the wider community, including individuals, government, business and other organisations. These benefits include ensuring that research data is stored safely thus avoiding data loss, enabling the validation of research findings, and facilitating the ability to reuse and share data sets. Indeed, notwithstanding circumstances when access must be restricted, the University recognises that facilitating open access to research data can provide value added benefits such as raising the research profile of individuals and the University as a whole, promoting open inquiry and academic integrity, and enabling innovative re-use of data to enhance research outcomes.
Consequently, the University has an overall commitment to:
Adopt the highest standards in research data management throughout each stage of the data lifecycle, and to make publicly funded research accessible and freely available while, at the same time, ensuring that the release of any data does not compromise the research process. Taking this commitment forward, this Research Data Management Policy identifies key principles of research data management practice and outlines expectations on the University and individual researchers. As such, the policy provides an institutional framework for the effective collection, quality, storage, security, maintenance and dissemination of data. Overall, the purpose of this policy is to:
- create a model of research data management practice and embed good research practice and procedures.
- safeguard intellectual property rights (IPR).
- ensure a commitment to research quality and integrity throughout the research process.
- foster responsibility for research data management.
- ensure that research data which is significant (as determined by the researcher with guidance, as relevant, from the research project group and Director of Research) is stored, retained, accessible and disposed of securely in accordance with all legal, statutory, ethical, contractual and funding requirements.
2. Implementation
Notwithstanding funder requirements, all researchers[2] at the University are required to comply with this Policy and ensure the proper collection, recording, maintenance, storage and security of research data. This policy requires that all researchers must comply with funder requirements in relation to the dissemination and sharing of research data. Where specific policies exist, researchers must follow those funder guidelines and mandates, paying attention to timeframes for the sharing of data, as well as to any named repositories where data must be shared. In cases where funder requirements are not specified, the University, as part of its commitment towards open access, encourages all researchers to make their publicly funded research accessible and freely available, where legally, commercially and ethically appropriate.
3. Key principles and expectations
- The University operates in an increasingly complex, data-orientated environment which requires the effective collection, management, analysis and dissemination of data. The data generated and held by the University are key assets that must be managed correctly to underpin University strategic development, essential functions and academic integrity.
- All data created or owned by researchers at the University are the property of the University and are regarded as corporate assets. [3]
- As part of a commitment to research excellence, the University seeks to promote the highest standards in the management of research data and records, throughout the research data lifecycle. As such, this Research Data Management policy should also be read in conjunction with policies and practice on research governance, including:
- The University aims to encourage transparency, reproducibility, and re-use of research, especially through the sharing of research data.
- The University is committed to adhering to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) in research data management. Researchers are encouraged to make their data FAIR by providing sufficient metadata, using standard formats, and ensuring data discoverability and accessibility. See 4.0 FAIR data for details.
- The University supports the approach that data should be “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” While open data is the default, valid reasons (such as legal, commercial, or ethical considerations) may restrict data sharing. It means that research data should be made openly accessible whenever feasible, while also considering valid reasons for restricting access. Essentially, this approach encourages transparency and collaboration while respecting privacy, security, and legal constraints.
- The University supports the principle of open access to research data, where legally, commercially and ethically appropriate. Where research is supported by a contract or a grant to the University that includes specific provisions regarding ownership and the retention of and access to data, the provisions of that agreement will take precedence. Indeed, where multiple policies apply to a particular research project, legislative requirements supersede all other policies.
- The University supports researchers to have privileged access to the data they have collected during the course of their research before it is made openly accessible. Subject to legal, ethical and commercial considerations, researchers’ rights to the exclusive use of research data will be protected up until the point of publication.
- Exclusive rights to reuse or publish research data should not be handed over to commercial entities without retaining the rights to make the data openly available for re-use, unless this is a condition of funding or legal requirement. Where research involves the use of data owned by a third party, researchers must abide by licences or terms of use governing the data.
- Where required by the funder, research data that has been selected for retention must be offered for deposit and preservation in an appropriate national or international data service or domain repository, or a repository of the University, and be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible, unless this would breach legislative, regulatory, contractual, ethical or other obligations.
- In cases where research data and records are to be deleted or destroyed (for example, due to legal or ethical reasons, expiration of the set period of retention or agreement that the data is no longer considered of practical use), this should be done so in accordance with all legal, ethical, research funder and collaborator requirements and with particular concern for confidentiality and security.
- As per funder requirements, published papers reporting publicly funded research should include a short data access statement describing how and on what terms any supporting research data may be accessed. In cases where funder requirements are not specified but the research data has been made openly accessible, it is recommended that relevant statements are included in the publications which report this research.
- Research data and records should be retained for as long as they are of continuing value to the researcher and the wider research community, and as long as specified by research funder, patent law, legislative and other regulatory requirements. In the absence of any specific legal or funder requirements, the minimum retention period for research data and records in the University is five years after publication or public release of the work of the research. In many instances, researchers will resolve to retain research data and records for a longer period than the minimum requirement.
- The University’s Open Research Group is responsible for guiding the development and updating of this policy. This Group reviewed the Policy in February 2022 and will review it every year thereafter.
4. FAIR data
The FAIR Principles provide a robust framework for enhancing the value and impact of research data.
i. Findable:
To make data findable, researchers should:
- ensure that persistent and unique identifiers (such as DOIs) have been assigned to their datasets. These identifiers facilitate data discovery and citation.
ii. Accessible:
To ensure that data can be retrieved and accessed by humans and machines, researchers should:
- Store data in trusted repositories or platforms that provide open access.
- Clearly define access rights and licenses.
- Provide clear instructions on how to access the data.
- Accessibility involves also minimising barriers such as authentication requirements or restrictive licenses.
iii. Interoperable:
To make data interoperable, researchers should:
- Use standard formats (e.g. CSV, JSON, XML) to enhance compatibility.
- Provide links to related resources (e.g. publications, other datasets).
- Ensure that data can be processed by different tools and software.
- Adopt existing controlled vocabularies and ontologies for consistent data representation.
iv. Reusable:
To make data reusable beyond its original purpose, researchers should:
- Document data processing steps, transformations, and quality checks.
- Include clear licensing information (e.g. Creative Commons licenses).
- Structure data in a way that allows others to understand and analyse it.
- Provide comprehensive documentation, including readme files, data dictionaries, and codebooks.
Achieving FAIRness requires collaboration among researchers, data managers, and institutions. Researchers should actively engage with data repositories, follow community standards, and participate in data curation efforts. By adhering to the FAIR principles researchers contribute to a more open, transparent, and impactful research ecosystem.
5. University responsibilities
The University acknowledges its obligations under research funders’ data-related policy statements and codes of practice to ensure that sound systems are in place to promote best practice in research data management, including developing clear guidance, supervision, training and support.
Details on support and guidance on research data management is available at https://libguides.qub.ac.uk/ResearchDataManagement. The University is responsible for:
- Providing researchers with access to training, support and advice in research data;
- Providing access to services and facilities, during and after completion of research projects, for the storage, deposit, cataloguing, retention and discovery of research data and records that allow researchers to meet their requirements under this policy and those of the funders of their research;
- Providing the necessary support to those Directorates charged with the provision of these services, facilities and training.
- Policies which promote data sharing and FAIR principles e.g. Research Data Management policy & the University’s Digital Object Identifier Policy that supports the unique identification and citation of research data.
6. Researcher responsibilities
While the Principal Investigator (PI) of a research project (or where the PI is not defined, the most senior researcher associated with the research project) is ultimately responsible for research data management related to that project, all researchers are responsible for:
- Making themselves familiar with and adhering to legislation, contractual obligations, ethical considerations and funder policies governing their research data and records management.
- Obtaining informed consent from participants when collecting data. Additionally, researchers should consider data sharing agreements and ensure that data shared with external parties adhere to legal, ethical, and privacy requirements.
- Forward planning for data sharing to appropriate trusted repositories and factoring in realistic timeframes for the preparation of data, using FAIR principles outlined in 4.
- Managing research data and records to ensure they are:
- Accurate, complete, authentic and reliable.
- Identifiable, retrievable, and available when needed.
- Secure and safe. Principal Investigators (PIs) should ensure that access to the research data is not limited to a single person.
- Backed-up regularly in accordance with best practice in the relevant field of research.
- Kept in a manner that is compliant with legal, commercial and ethical obligations and, where applicable, the requirements of funding bodies and project-specific protocols approved under University policy.
- Able to be made available to others in line with appropriate ethical, data sharing and open access principles.
- Developing and implementing research data management plans for all new research projects, as per funder requirements. The University recommends using DMPOnline, an online tool that assists researchers in creating comprehensive DMPs. By documenting clear procedures, processes and responsibilities, these plans shall address the capture, management, integrity, confidentiality, security, selection, storage, preservation and disposal, commercialisation, costs, sharing and publication of research data, including the production of descriptive metadata to aid discovery and re-use, when relevant. Research data management plans should also, where appropriate, define protocols and responsibilities in a joint or multi-institutional collaborative research project. While responsibility for research data management during any research project lies primarily with Principal Investigators (PIs), the PI can delegate roles and responsibilities and outline these in the plan.
- Seeking, where possible, to recover the direct costs of managing research data from the research funder.
- Providing and publishing sufficient metadata (descriptive information) and explanatory documentation about their retained research data which they have selected to be made openly accessible. This will ensure that the data is discoverable, understandable and re-useable. Where access to the retained data is restricted, the published metadata should also give the reason and summarise the conditions which must be satisfied for access to be granted.
- Registering any University data that has been selected for retention for open access display, whether the data is hosted by the University or maintained elsewhere. This involves cataloguing the data (via completion of a short metadata page) within the University’s research information management system, known as Pure, for display on the Research Portal. As part of this process, researchers are also required to link the dataset to the relevant publication(s) and project(s). Any University data which is retained elsewhere for open access display, for example in an international data services or subject domain repositories, must also be catalogued within the Pure system for display on the Research Portal.
- Embracing FAIR principles in the sharing of data via the University’s data repository (Pure). See 4 for details.
- Planning for the ongoing custodianship (at the University or using third-party services) of their data after the completion of the research or, in the event of their departure or retirement from the University, reaching agreement with the Head of School / Institute or Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor (or his/her nominee) as to where such data will be located and how this will be stored.
7. Research Data Management and IP
This policy is subject to the University’s IP Policy.
Footnotes
[1] Research data are defined as the recorded information (regardless of the form or the media in which they may exist) necessary to support or validate a research project’s observations, findings or outputs.
[2] Researcher refers to any person undertaking research or involved in collecting, generating or creating research data for, or on behalf of, the University (regardless of whether or not the research is externally funded). This includes, but is not limited to, employees, workers, visiting researchers and postgraduate research students. This policy, however, does not apply to taught postgraduate or undergraduate research or to research such as surveys used to improve service provision, conducted by Queen’s Students’ Union or Professional Support Directorates.
[3] For self-funded PhD students, the data is owned by the researcher, not the University.
[5] https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/Governance-ethics-and-integrity/FileStore/Filetoupload,1791793,en.pdf
[6] An overview of the major UK funders’ data policies, for example, is available at http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies