Research Data and Primary Materials Management Procedure
Section 1 - Introduction
(1) This procedure articulates the responsibilities of the
(2) As described in Management of Data and Information in Research: A guide supporting the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Guide), the responsible conduct of
- justify the outcomes of
research and to defend such outcomes should they be challenged; - maximise the potential value of data and primary materials for further
research ; and - minimise waste of resources that are of value to Researchers and the community.
(3) This Procedure supports the principles of rigor, transparency and accountability governing the management of research data and primary materials at the University of Newcastle (the
(4) This Procedure should be read in conjunction with the Code, the Guide, State Records NSW – General Retention and Disposal Authority, the relevant clauses in any applicable funding documentation, and the following
- Responsible Conduct of Research Policy;
- Ethical Human Research Procedure Manual;
- Animal Research Regulatory Manual;
- Digital Security Policy;
- Records and Information Management Policy;
- Temperature Controlled Environments Policy;
- Intellectual Property Policy and Intellectual Property Procedure;
- Privacy Policy;
- Open Access Policy;
- Privacy Management Plan;
- Research Breach Investigation Procedure;
- Research Authorship Procedure;
- Information Classification and Protection Policy; and
- Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Protocol.
Section 2 - Audience
(5) This procedure should be read and understood by all
Section 3 - Scope
(6) This procedure:
- applies to all
University Researchers irrespective of their work location; and - applies to all data and primary materials generated by
University Researchers, regardless of format.
Section 4 - Document Specific Definitions
(7) In the context of this document:
research data is facts, observations, images, computer program results, recordings, measurements or experiences on which an argument, theory, test or hypothesis, or otherresearch output is based.Research data may be numerical, descriptive, visual, or tactile. It may be raw, cleaned or processed and may be held in any format or media (Australian National Data Service – What is research data, 2017);- primary materials are physical objects acquired through a process of scholarly investigation from which
research data may be derived, includingresearch material as defined in the Temperature Controlled Environments Policy. Examples of primary materials include ore, biological material, questionnaires and recordings; - metadata is information about the context, content, quality, provenance, accessibility, and licensing arrangements that describes a
research data set. It provides a structured reference that helps to sort and identify attributes of the information it describes making it easier to find, use, and re-use; - Indigenous data sovereignty is the right of Indigenous peoples to own, control, access and possess data that derive from them, and which pertains to their members knowledge systems, customs, resources or territories;
- Open access is the immediate, online, free availability of
research outputs without restrictions on use commonly imposed by publisher copyright agreements; - Research data management is all the processes and actions required to manage
research data throughout its lifecycle from project inception to permanent disposal or archiving. This includes generation, collection, access, use, analysis, disclosure, storage, retention, disposal, sharing, and re-use of data; - A
research data management plan is a document that outlines how and when theresearch data for a specific project will be collected, organised, stored, backed-up, preserved, shared, archived, and disposed.Research data management plans can be seen as ‘living documents’ and should be reviewed throughout the duration of theresearch project and updated as required; - sensitive data is data that needs to be protected from unauthorised access or unwarranted disclosure;
-
active phase means the period from the commencement of the
research project until theresearch ceases and arrangements are made for the retention of the resultingresearch data and/or primary materials; and -
Chief Investigator means the
University Researcher who is leading a project.
Section 5 - Requirements
Ownership
(8)
(9)
(10) The
Stewardship
(11) The
- owned by a
third party ; or - are subject to a formal collaborative agreement.
(12) The Chief Investigator has overall responsibility for the
Collaboration
(13)
(14) Where a project spans several institutions the
Management
(15) The
(16) For all
(17) The
(18) The potential value of
(19) The use of third party data provided by other organisations via contractual agreements or
(20) All
Storage
Research data
(21)
(22) The
(23) Wherever possible and appropriate, physical
(24)
Primary materials
(25) During the active phase of the
(26) While it may not be practical to retain all primary materials, durable records derived from primary materials (such as assays, test results, transcripts, and laboratory and field notes) must be retained where practicable and be made accessible.
(27) When primary materials are relocated to centrally managed locations, the following processes must be undertaken:
- hard copy/paper records and data may be transferred to the
University's off-site storage repository for retention until the appropriate disposal time.University Researchers must contact Records Governance Services to arrange this transfer; and - other objects/records (materials which are neither hard copy nor electronic, such as rock or physical specimens) must be retained in appropriate secure storage in the
School /Centre.
Metadata
(28) Metadata should be retained for all data collected, generated or collated by Researchers and should accompany the
(29) Researchers should follow a metadata standard that uses controlled vocabularies, such as the examples provided by Research Vocabularies Australia, to ensure the data is optimised for future use.
Access
(30) The
(31)
(32)
(33) Researchers interested in re-using
(34) Access or re-use of data or information used in or generated by
Confidentiality and security
(35)
(36)
(37)
(38)
Retention
(39) The retention period for
(40)
(41) For short-term
(42)
(43) In general,
(44)
Disposal
(45)
(46) Disposal of
(47) Permission to dispose of copies and duplicates of
Section 6 - Roles and Responsibilities
University Researchers
(48)
- create and maintain full and accurate records of the
research methods and data sources used; - provide the same level of care and protection to raw
research data and primary materials as to analysedresearch data; - produce a
research DMP which includes all data types relevant to the project and is updated as required throughout the lifecycle of the project; - where applicable, manage
research data and primary materials according to protocols approved by an Ethical Review Body and legislative requirements; - retain
research data where practicable, including electronic data, in a durable, indexed and retrievable form; - ensure that
research data and primary materials are kept safe and secure in the storage provided during the active phase ofresearch where practicable, even when not in current use; - maintain a catalogue of
research data in an accessible form; - ensure that where projects involve several institutions, an agreement is developed at the outset covering the access and storage of
research data and primary materials within each institution; and - ensure that adequate backup, archival and monitoring strategies are in place to prevent the loss of
research data and primary materials and delays in the completion ofresearch ; - authors of published
research must complete a Statement of Authorship and Location of Data Form and store it with the data underpinning theresearch publication as stated in the Research Authorship Procedure; - be able to produce on request all relevant approvals, such as ethics and financial approvals, authorisations and consent forms;
- report any inappropriate use or access to, or loss of data that may constitute a breach to the Code, to be managed according to the Research Breach Investigation Procedure. This includes:
- falsification and/or fabrication of
research data or primary materials; - failure to retain accurate, secure and complete records of all
research data; - failure to adhere to the conditions of project specific approvals that relate to the retention, sharing or destruction of
research data or primary materials; and - selective retention of
research data that hinders the verifiability of aresearch output.
- falsification and/or fabrication of
Chief Investigators
(49) Chief Investigators are required to ensure that
(50) Chief Investigators are responsible for ensuring that each member of the
The University
(51) The
- safe, secure and sustainable facilities and appropriate infrastructure for the physical and digital storage of
research data and primary materials; - research data management planning information and tools such as the Data Management Planning Toolkit and Data Management Dashboard, available through the University Library;
- accurate information to Researchers on capability, security, confidentiality, safety and integrity of available tools, programs and systems; and
- an open access repository infrastructure and support for Researchers submitting metadata and
research outputs to the repository serviced by the University Library.