More about managing research data
What comprises research data?
Research data are broadly defined as all data created by researchers in the course of their work.
Research materials include, but are not limited to, physical samples, photographs, written or audio-visual recordings, artwork, questionnaires or other instruments, fieldwork notes, and other items which are either the sources of data or themselves constitute data in a research project.
Why must the University and researchers retain data?
Proper storage and management of data are part of the national guidelines set out by the federal government in its funding agreements with the University. Compliance is a condition of funding.
As a recipient of federal support including grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the University must comply with the Australian Code, federal privacy legislation and a variety of other codes and guidelines.
The reason for these requirements is to ensure that data and materials which provide the basis of research outcomes are retained for sufficient time to allow reference, and to provide evidence of the research outcomes if they are challenged. This supports transparency and integrity in research.
Data may be stored:
- As evidence for the validity of the research
- For later use by researchers
- Because it has heritage value for the future
Where should data be stored?
Wherever possible, original data should be stored in the school or institute where the research was conducted. If appropriate facilities for storage are not available the Head of School or Director of Institute should ensure that appropriate facilities are provided. (Research Conduct Policy, 27.)
Most data should be stored for a minimum of five years, longer for clinical research. Minimum periods of retention are set out in the Research Conduct Policy, 23.
Where data may be re-used or where they have heritage value, appropriate storage and management should be arranged. A description of the data, including location and access conditions may be provided to Deakin Research Online (DRO) using this form.
Where access to a wider group of researchers or the public is necessary, consideration should also be given to storing copies of the data in a:
- Repository or archive (e.g. Deakin Research Online, Australian Social Science Data Archive (ASSDA))
- Purpose built shared facility
- Cloud computing facility (e.g. ARCS Compute Cloud or Duracloud)
These facilities can provide a controlled, secure environment or a completely open environment in which eligible researchers may be able to perform analyses using data resources. It is possible to store more than one version of a dataset, each providing a different level of access.
Sharing your data through a repository or archive supports discovery and recognition, as well as re-use of research efforts.
Data Sharing can also be achieved by researchers providing data directly to other researchers, or posting data on a web site. These solutions are more labour intensive for researchers and do not take the place of longer term preservation.
Requirements to archive data from publicly funded research are expected to increase. The ARC Discovery Projects Funding Agreements for 2011 states in clause 20.2 (b) "that the Administering Organisation must ensure that all Specified Personnel make arrangements acceptable to the ARC for lodgement with an appropriate museum or archive in Australia of data or specimens or samples collected during, or resulting from, their Project".
Should I share my data?
Deakin University's Research Conduct Policy supports the dissemination of research data as freely as practicable, though subject to privacy, contractual and intellectual property requirements. The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research also recommends that data should be made available for use by other researchers (clause 2.5.2).
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) lists the goals that are achieved by sharing data, including:
- Reinforcing open scientific inquiry;
- Encouraging diversity of analysis and opinion;
- Promoting new research, testing of new or alternative hypotheses and methods of analysis;
- Supporting studies on data collection methods and measurement;
- Facilitating education of new researchers;
- Enabling the exploration of topics not envisioned by the initial investigators;
- Permitting the creation of new datasets by combining data from multiple sources.
The Australian National Data Service (ANDS) identifies these practical reasons for sharing:
- research results can be verified;
- research into multi-disciplinary issues like climate, water, health and energy can draw data from different fields;
- old data can contribute to new research. Once lost it is gone forever;
- data that cannot be duplicated are preserved;
- time series can be created;
- duplication of effort can be avoided;
- The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, to which all Australian universities are signatories, states that ‘Research data should be made available for use by other researchers unless this is prevented by ethical, privacy or confidentiality matters.' (Section 2.5.2)
Both the ARC (Funding Agreement Section 20) and the NHMRC require administering organisations to deposit data and publications in an appropriate repository within six months of the completion of research, or give reasons why this has not been done.
This supports the Federal Government's wish to maximise the benefits from research findings as broadly as possible by allowing access by other researchers and the wider community to research findings in repositories.
Data management plan
A data managment plan at the start of a new project prompts you to make decisions related to both short term and long term needs in respect to the data you create.
While not a requirement, it is a useful tool that will enable you to easily answer questions relating to ownership, ethics, retention, and sharing easily for any grant application or reporting requirement.
Deakin research data projects
Deakin is and has been undertaking projects to implement technology and processes that will improve the options that researchers have to manage and share (where appropriate) their research data collections or a descriptive record of these collections.
Seeding the Commons
Concluding in May 2012, the Seeding the Commons Project (funded by the Australian National Data Service) contributed to ongoing improvement in the capture, management and discovery of research data at Deakin University.
The project described over 50 research data collections and made them available for viewing in Deakin University’s research repository, Deakin Research Online (DRO) (select Browse > Collections > Deakin University data collections).
View further information about this project.
Deakin Metadata Store Project
The Deakin Metadata Store Project began in June 2012 and will conclude in June 2013. Funded by the Australian National Data Service, the project will implement a solution to enable Deakin researchers to describe their research data collections and make these descriptions available to a wider audience.
While the Seeding the Commons Project developed manual processes to capture descriptions of data collections, the Deakin Metadata Store Project will take this to the next level by automating the capture of information wherever possible and developing sustainable processes for the capture of research data collection descriptions.
The Project Board is made up of representatives from eSolutions, Deakin Research, the Library and the Faculties. This partnership is crucial to the success of the project.
The intended benefits of the project are to:
- increase the impact of the research that Deakin’s researchers are undertaking
- improve opportunities for research collaboration
- enable Deakin’s researchers to gain citations for sharing their data (where appropriate)
- raise the profile of Deakin’s researchers
- assist Deakin’s researchers to fulfil obligations as outlined in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
Research Data Management Project
The internally funded Research Data Management Project began in August 2012 and will conclude in August 2013. While the Deakin Metadata Store Project will deliver the technology and processes to enable descriptions of research data collections to be developed and shared, the Research Data Management Project will deliver technology and processes to assist the researcher to effectively manage their research data by using central services that will ensure the security and longevity of their data. This project will deliver:
- A Data Management Planning Tool to assist researchers to plan for the management of their research data.
- An enhanced research data store that automates the creation of share spaces for research data collections, integrates with the Data Management Planning Tool, has archiving capabilities, has built in file management tools, and allows the researcher to share their research data with a broader audience (where appropriate).
- A documented business process that clearly shows activities to be undertaken to manage research data at relevant stages of the research lifecycle.
- An online research data management guide.
- A communication and awareness program for researchers to encourage them and empower them to manage their research data effectively.
