• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Scope
• Section 3 - Principles
• Policy Statement
• Storage of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information 
• Retention and Publication
• Access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information
• Managing Confidential and Other Sensitive Information
• Ownership, Custodian and Control
• Acknowledging the Use of Others' Data
• Disposal and Destruction
• Researcher Departure
• Training for Researchers
• Section 4 - Responsibilities
• Section 5 -  Supporting Information
• Section 6 - Procedure
• Section 7 - Definitions

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Policy sets out the requirements for staff, affiliates and students at the University of Canberra (University) to ensure Research Data, Primary Materials and Information are managed according to legal, statutory, ethical and funding body requirements. This Policy derives from the University's responsibility to ensure institutional practices are consistent with the principles and responsibilities of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (Code).

Section 2 - Scope

(2) This Policy applies to all University ataff, affiliates and students, visitors and visiting fellows who:

1. undertake research activities;
2. manage Research Data, Primary Materials and Information; and
3. provide the necessary infrastructure and support for staff, affiliates and students.

Section 3 - Principles

Policy Statement

(3) The aim of this Policy is to ensure that Research Data, Primary Research Materials and Information required for the validation of research results are properly managed according to recommendations made in the Code and applicable legislation.

(4) The Code states that all individuals and institutions engaged in research have a responsibility to manage Research Data Primary Materials and Information effectively, by addressing ownership, storage, retention, access, acknowledgment and disposal issues.

(5) The potential cumulative value of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information should also be considered and, where possible, Research Data,Primary Materials and Information should be made available for re-use. The University recognises that access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information can raise the research profile of individuals and institutions, increase returns on public investment, promote open inquiry and debate, and enable innovative uses of data that may not have been foreseen by researchers at the time of its creation. The University is committed to supporting the long-term management of research data to enable continuing access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information.

(6) To optimise research outcomes, Research Data, Primary Materials and Information must be stored, retained, documented and/or described, made accessible for use and reuse, and/or disposed of, according to legal, statutory, ethical and funding body requirements. The management of Research Data,Primary Materials and Information is a shared responsibility. The University expects all researchers, academic units, Library and Study Skills and central administrative units to work collaboratively to implement good research data management practices.

(7) All researchers and research support personnel are to follow the procedures set out by the University in the Management of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information Procedure.

Storage of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information 

Responsibilities of the University

(8) The University will make reasonable efforts to provide facilities and processes for the storage and management of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information that:

1. are safe and secure;
2. can adequately record the research data throughout its life cycle; and
3. can adequately record the research metadata to enable access to the stored data.

Responsibilities of Researchers

(9) Researchers must take reasonable steps to keep Research Data, Primary Materials and Information secure.

(10) Researchers must store Research Data, Primary Materials and Information in appropriate facilities and adequately record them in a register or index of research metadata to enable access as required.

(11) Researchers must curate Research Data, Primary Materials and Information properly throughout its life cycle, and store Research Data with the appropriate metadata.

Retention and Publication

Responsibilities of the University

(12) The University is required to ensure that the Research Data, Primary Materials and Information required for the comprehension and interpretation of those data and materials, are retained for a period determined by prevailing standards for the specific type of research and any applicable state, territory or national legislation.

(13) Normally the minimum period for retention of research data is 5 years from the date of publication. In the case of clinical data, this minimum period is typically 15 years. In other areas (such as gene therapy), research data must be retained permanently as is the case for data with community, cultural or historical value, preferably within a national collection.

(14) Agreements covering all management aspects of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information are to be reviewed, prior to movement or departure of researchers between institutions.

Responsibilities of Researchers

(15) Researchers have primary responsibility for deciding which Research Data, Primary Materials and Information are candidates for long-term retention and wider accessibility.

(16) Researchers must retain Research Data, Primary Materials and Information in a durable, indexed and retrievable form, for at least as long as relevant, i.e. considering record keeping legislation, national codes, agreements or funding body requirements.

(17) Subject to clause 31 to 35, researchers can retain copies of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information for their own use, considering the confidentiality and sensitivity of the data.

(18) Researchers should:

1. comply with this Policy and associated procedures to ensure appropriate retention of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information during the conduct of the research in storage facilities provided by the University;
2. provide access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information held in the independent storage facilities, on request;
3. on publication of research, make the Research Data, Primary Materials and Information available at publishing houses, data centres, national and international collections, or through online repositories maintained by institutions and research communities with enough detail to enable analyses to be repeated;
4. adhere to established national and international standards for data description and structuring to facilitate tracking of references, including using Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for datasets, ORCID IDs for researchers, and standard terminology for scientific concepts;
5. provide sufficient context accompanying the Research Data, Primary Materials and Information data (descriptive, technical, methodological, access, and provenance information), either within the data structure or in separate metadata records to ensure the data is FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable), both manually and with automated tools); and
6. adopt the least restrictive option, such as a creative commons attribution licence, as licensing data for use and re-use by others.

Access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information

Responsibilities of the University

(19) The University will identify specific categories of access to Research Data, Primary Materials and Information, and establish and communicate processes by which those data, materials and information can be accessed and referenced.

(20) Where the sharing of research data has been requested and access has been refused, the University will provide reasons for not sharing the data.

(21) Where appropriate, the University will negotiate licensing arrangements to provide a standardised way for researchers and institutions to share research data with others.

Responsibilities of Researchers

(22) Research Data, Primary Materials and Information, should be made available by researchers for use within the research team and where possible, more broadly to interested parties for further research.

(23) Researchers should ensure that, unless it is prevented by ethical, privacy, or confidentiality matters, Research Data, Primary Materials and Information must be available for reuse.

(24) Researchers given access to or using confidential information, must respect and comply with any research project-specific conditions of consent or confidentiality obligations. Confidential information must only be used in ways agreed with those that provided it.

(25) Researchers must adhere to any research project-specific protocols that may require measures beyond those required by University policy, procedures or relevant laws, regulations and guidelines, or research discipline-specific practices and standards.

(26) Researchers must report any inappropriate use of or access to or loss of data, in accordance with University policies including Privacy Policy and, where relevant, other reporting schemes such as the notifiable data breaches.

Managing Confidential and Other Sensitive Information

(27) Researchers must exercise care in handling confidential or other sensitive information used in or arising from a research project.

(28) Research Data, Primary Materials and Information to which obligations of confidentiality or other sensitivities may apply commonly fall into one of the following categories:

1. Data or information that is commercial-in-confidence or that is inherently confidential, and which has been provided in confidence (i.e. secret and sacred religious or cultural practices, or information on the location of vulnerable species);
2. Sensitive data or information subject to privacy legislation (i.e. identifiable human medical/ health and personal data or information); or
3. Data or information subject to classification regimes and other controls (i.e. national security information, police records or information and primary materials subject to export controls).

(29) Researchers must ensure that all security and privacy measures used for Research Data, Primary Materials and Information comply with any external funding requirements if applicable, and are proportional to the risks associated with the confidentiality or sensitivities of the data and materials. These measures relate to storage, access and sharing of the Research Data, Primary Materials and Information, and should be recorded in a data management plan.

(30) Sensitive Research Data, Primary Materials and Information may be appropriately shared through mediated access arrangements and the application of a risk assessment framework.

Ownership, Custodian and Control

(31) Subject to agreements entered into by the University with third parties, including funding bodies and other institutions, Research Data, Primary Materials and Information created or collected by researchers, the University asserts custodianship over Research Data, Primary Materials and Information covered by the scope of this Policy.

(32) Research Data is considered intellectual property, and its ownership is governed by the University’s Intellectual Property Policy.

(33) Students own the data collected in their research. Subject to any external funding or contract requirements, a student deed of agreement may be required.

(34) The University’s assertion of custodianship will not impede the normal use of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information by researchers for their research and scholarly purposes. Instead, the University is permitted to collect and control Research Data, Primary Materials and Information for long-term purposes, such as data preservation and data sharing.

(35) Where research projects span several institutions, an agreement must be developed at the outset covering the control and management of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information.

Acknowledging the Use of Others' Data

(36) As required by the Code, Researchers are required to ensure that the Research Data, Primary Materials and Information of other researchers is appropriately referenced and cited in any presentation, publication or sharing of research. This principle applies to all Research Data, Primary Materials and Information used as an input to a research project at the University.

Disposal and Destruction

(37) The disposal of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information is to be conducted in accordance with the University’s policies and procedures, as well as ethical and contractual requirements.

(38) Disposal of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information must not occur prior to the expiration of the retention period or prior to the resolution of any challenge to the results of the research.

(39) If the results from research are challenged, all relevant Research Data, Primary Materials and Information must be retained at least until notification from the University that the matter is resolved.

Researcher Departure

(40) Prior to a researcher’s departure from the University, a review of the data and materials created and collected will be undertaken to determine ongoing ownership and storage.

(41) The Researcher is responsible for:

1. ensuring that agreements are in place to govern circumstances in which they leave the project or move from one institution to another during the project;
2. ensuring that all Research Data, Primary Materials and Information necessary for it to be adequately comprehended and interpreted are current in the University's data repository established under this Policy;
3. providing to the University on request and within a reasonable time, Research Data, Primary Materials and Information on the understanding that the University will maintain appropriate confidentiality in managing those copies;
4. where it is not possible to copy the materials, advising the University as to where those materials are to be held and not refuse reasonable requests to access those materials; and
5. providing all assistance required by the University to meet its obligations under the Code regarding Research Data, Primary Materials and Information.

Training for Researchers

(42) The University recognises the importance of the proper research data management and is committed to on-going training, promotion and support of best practices in responsible research conduct including research data management.

(43) Researchers should engage with relevant training and education on research data management provided by or through the University.

Section 4 - Responsibilities

Section 5 -  Supporting Information

(44) This Policy is informed by the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and NHMRC Statement on Data Sharing, and, other University policies, procedures and guidelines to ensure the responsible conduct of research by all University staff, affiliates, students, visitors and visiting fellows; and to ensure they meet the National Code guidelines for institutions and researchers in responsible research practices, and the jointly developed requirements of the Australian Research Council (ARC, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Universities Australia.

(45) The National Code provides the basis for the University’s Responsible Conduct of Research Policy. The University’s policies for research activities are designed to ensure compliance with the National Code and with the conditions of external funding bodies.

Section 6 - Procedure

(46) Refer to Management of Research Data, Primary Materials and Information Procedure. 

Section 7 - Definitions