PROCEDURE

/ Research Data Management Procedure
Operational Responsibility: / Research and Innovation
Related Policy: / Research Data Management Policy
PROCEDURE STATEMENT
INTENT / To provide clear guidance to researchers and research support staff in regard to research data management requirements, in line with legislation, best practice, and ethical guidelines, including the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code).
SCOPE / This procedure applies to all staff, students, visiting researchers, research collaborators, and honorary and adjunct appointees undertaking or supporting research activities at all RMIT University campuses and external research locations.
This procedure applies to all research data that has been collected and/or used during RMIT research activities, including materials, raw and analysed data, research records and datasets, held in all formats and media.
EXCLUSIONS / Research management records, such as contractual materials, grant or funding applications, ethics approval material or other documents related to the management of research projects.These are managed in line with the Records Management policy suite.
Research outputs such as journal articles and theses.

PROCEDURE STEPS AND ACTIONS:

RMIT University values the contribution of researchers and participants to the collection of research data. It recognises the importance of research data in supporting research findings, contributing to further research and discussion, and enabling public trust in research. Therefore it acknowledges the importance of ensuring all research data is managed well throughout its lifecycle, so that it is secure, accessible, reusable, and so that any confidentiality, ethical and privacy concerns, and legal requirements are respected.
1. Responsibilities
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Innovation:
  • Oversee the management of research data across RMIT University.
Executive Director, Research Office
  • Maintain procedures and processes relating to research data management.
  • Support information provision and training on research data management responsibilities and processes for researchers and research support staff
Executive Director, Information Technology Services
  • Develop and provide storage and retention solutions for electronic research data.
  • Ensure information technology personnel understand their responsibilities for service provision, network security and access control.
  • Provide safe and secure facilities and systems for the management of electronic research data that has been placed on RMIT infrastructure.
  • Provide information and support to researchers on RMIT approved research data management infrastructure and how to permanently erase electronic data.
University Librarian
  • Develop and maintain centrally supported institutional repository for the provision of access to metadata records.
  • Provide researchers with information about datastores, archives and databanks where they can store their data and access relevant data.
Heads of School & Units and Institute & Centre Directors
  • Enable researchers to access appropriate facilities for the safe and secure storage and retention of hardcopy research data that meets security and confidentiality requirements.
  • Provide guidelines for the storage, retention and disposal of research data that are in line with RMIT Research Data Management Policyand Procedure and good practice in their research discipline(s).
  • Assign the responsibility for the management of storage area(s) for hardcopy data within the school to a designated position(s).
  • Inform staff and student researchers, prior to data collection, of data management procedures, guidelines and facilities relevant to the discipline.
School of Graduate Research (SGR)/Research Office (RIGS)
  • Inform supervisors and higher degree by research students of their responsibility to manage research data appropriately.
Chief Investigator/Contract Manager
  • Provide their research data management plan on request, as detailed in Section 2 of this procedure.
  • Document that all people working on the research project collecting or handling data are aware of and agreed to the research data management plan prior to data collection, including consent to any alterations during the project/lifecycle of the data.
  • Make data available to other researchers via open or negotiated access, as appropriate and in line with the funding, ethical and legislative requirements for at least its minimum retention period or as detailed in Section 8 of this procedure.
  • Store non-electronic research data in the school of the Chief Investigator, unless otherwise arranged and documented.
Staff and students carrying out research activities
  • Collect and manage research data in line with the research project’s data management plan (see Section 2 of this procedure), and according to ethical requirements and relevant legislation.
  • Store research data securely, in a durable, indexed and retrievable form and in line with RMIT policies, ethical, contractual and legislative requirements at all stages of the research data’s lifecycle.
  • Keep a clear record of research methods and data sources, including any approvals granted, during and after the research process.

2. Research Data Management Plan
2.1 Researchers must be able to provide on request a research data management plan about the research data that will be collected and used during their research projects and other research activities. This plan must either contain the following information or the location where the information is recorded:
  • A description of the research data (including type and quantity of data, format, storage location)
  • Access arrangements, both during and after the research project;
  • How data reuse/sharing will be enabled;
  • Any access, reuse or confidentiality restrictions;
  • Research data and related Intellectual Property ownership;
  • Retention period, including any disposal or destruction conditions.
The plan should be updated as changes to the project occur. RMIT University provides an optional research data management plan template.
2.2 The Chief Investigator must ensure that they have the documented agreement of all researchers working on the research project to the data management plan prior to data collection. Researchers must ensure that they are familiar with the research data management plan for any research projects they participate in.
2.3 When researchers collect or use personal, sensitive or health information of identifiable individuals they must comply with ethical requirements, RMIT’s Human Research Ethics Procedure, and RMIT’s Privacy and Data Protection policy, which is based on requirements in privacy and other legislation.
2.4 Researchers must ensure that all people collecting or handling research data are appropriately qualified to do so, and are aware of their responsibility to comply with RMIT policy, ethical requirements and relevant legislation. This applies to people providing support, including but not limited to translation, transcription, data analysis, and image processing. Where such assistance is used and the research data is confidential, personal or sensitive, researchers must protect the data by following contractual and ethical approval requirements, and relying on professional standards.
2.5 During the research project, researchers must capture the relevant research data, in line with the criteria in Section 7 of this procedure and good practice in their discipline.
3. Ownership
3.1 Ownership of research data is assigned in line with RMIT policies, including RMIT’s Intellectual Property policies.
3.2 A Chief Investigator must identify the ownership of the research data and document it in the research data management plan at the start of a research project. This includes projects that span several institutions. A Chief Investigator must keep evidence that their research team have agreed to the ownership arrangements, and any subsequent changes. This evidence may be in the form of an email.
3.3 Third party research data must be used in line with intellectual property law including copyright requirements, and any other third party requirements.
3.4 Researchers carrying out research outside of Australia must be aware of and follow the relevant Intellectual Property law and other relevant legislative requirements.
3.5 Using RMIT infrastructure to store data does not affect the ownership of the research data.
  1. Access and Sharing
4.1Before allowing reuse of data, researchers must ensure that the reuse of data respects confidentiality, cultural issues, commercial interests, reuse permissions, intellectual property rights, legal requirements, and privacy and ethical concerns such as the type of consent granted and whether the data should be identifiable, re-identifiable or non-identifiable.
4.2 Databanks (collections of human research data that may be used in future research projects) must have a custodian. The custodian is responsible for ensuring the data is used responsibly and for safeguarding participants’ privacy. When collecting research data about people, their information or their tissue for a databank, researchers must gain consent in line with 2.2.14 to 2.2.18 of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Ethics Coordinators provide advice.
4.3 Confidential and sensitive research data must be kept in secure storage and appropriately protected from unauthorised access. Researchers given access to confidential data must maintain that confidentiality. Particular care must be exercised when confidential data are made available for discussion. Research data, even confidential data, may be accessed by subpoena, in the event of legal action, and in certain other circumstances under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (VIC).
4.4 Researchers given access to third party data must maintain any access and reuse conditions.
4.5 Where possible, researchers should make the research data available to other researchers and support reuse of research data by ensuring the data is discoverable and accessible. For more see Section 9.1. of this procedure.
4.6 When research data cannot be made available, researchers should make the research metadata available. The Library provides advice on how to describe the data, how to clean the data, and on the appropriate data storage facility, archive, repository or metadata store to use.
4.7 During the research project, only people who have been approved by the Chief Investigator should have access to the research data. After the research project, in cases where the research data cannot be made fully available, the Head of School or a Chief Investigator must approve and keep a record of any access to research data, for example, an email.
4.8 Schools must provide clear information about discipline specific reuse permissions, terms, and conditions in relation to research data management.
  1. Storage
5.1 All research data storage must comply with legal, ethical, and Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research requirements and good practice, including that it is safe, secure, durable, indexed, easily retrievable and accessible.
5.2 Researchers must not only store their research data on portable storage devices (PSD), such as USB keys, laptops or compact disks. PSDs should only be used temporarily and when necessary. PSDs may be lost, stolen or damaged. Where the data contains personal information or is sensitive to RMIT operations the RMIT PSD Use and Security Procedure must be followed. For more information see RMIT’s Storing your Research Data Factsheet and ITS webpage on research data storage.
5.3 Both during and after the research project, researchers must store research data on infrastructure either provided or approved by RMIT, where possible.
5.4 Where researchers do not use RMIT infrastructure they must record where they are storing their data and provide a readily available record on the data storage provisions on request. If they do not use infrastructure that has been approved by RMIT, researchers are responsible for ensuring that their data storage provisions and the terms of service of providers are compliant with RMIT policy.
5.5 Schools must provide appropriate storage space for non-electronic research data and accompanying information on how to use this storage space. Researchers must use this storage space, where possible.
5.6 Electronic research data must be stored on the RMIT server or on storage solutions provided or approved by RMIT, where possible. ITS provides automatic storage space for all researchers on the RMIT network, which is safe, secure and backed up. ITS provides advice on both RMIT provided and RMIT approved research data storage options on their website, including on the ITS webpage on research data storage.
5.7 Researchers may replace hardcopy research data with digital research data as long as the digitised versions are a full and accurate electronic replication, stored in a durable and accessible format (e.g. pdf), and indexed. In these cases, the hardcopy research data does not need to be kept.
  1. Moving Research Data
6.1 When moving data across state or national borders researchers must follow any relevant legislation or ethical requirements, including the privacy principles on trans and cross border data flows (Health Privacy Principle 9 and Australian Privacy Principle 8).
6.2 Researchers must import or export any research material in line with legislation and regulations, including Customs and Australian Quarantine Inspection Service regulations.
6.3 Researchers should use RMIT approved cloud systems to move data, where possible, rather than using PSDs. See Section 5.2 of this procedure.
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6.4 When moving research data, researchers must update their Research Data Management plan to reflect the new location of the data and any related changes such as access arrangements.
6.5 When research data moves between RMIT and another institution(s) there must be a documented agreement between all of the institutions and the Chief Investigator(s) and/or the Head of School on research data retention, ownership, and access. For when a researcher is moving between institutions, see Section 10. Exit Planning.
  1. Retention
7.1 At the end of the research project, researchers must keep the research data that is needed to prove the outcomes, and likely future outcomes, of the research and to defend them if they are challenged.
7.2 Research materials and raw data (such as ore, biological material, questionnaires or recordings) may not need to be retained where it is impractical due to issues such as size, but sufficient related process data (such as test results, transcripts, diary entries, lab books and notes) must be retained that capture the relevant information about the data and how it was collected and analysed. This may include documentation of oral decisions and commitments related to the research data.
7.3 When considering what research data to retain, the retention period and method, researchers must consider:
  • Minimum retention periods;
  • Good practice in their discipline;
  • Legislative, contractual and regulatory requirements;
  • The need for other researchers and interested parties to reference the data due to interest in the research outcomes;
  • The potential for reuse and sharing of the data by other researchers;
  • The value of the data.
7.4 The Records Management Unit and the Research Office monitor research data retention requirements, and provide support and information for researchers. For more information on retention periods and methods (Sections 8 and 9 of this procedure) see RMIT’s Research Data Retention Factsheet.
8. Retention Period
8.1 Researchers must retain research data for at least the minimum retention requirements in line with Higher Education Records Disposal Authority issued by the Public Records Office Victoria (under Section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic),the Code, and Section 11.1 of this procedure. Where any of these retention requirements conflict with each other, or with other official research requirements, the longer retention period must be observed.
8.2 In most cases, researchers must keep the research data for at least five years from the date of publication. However, some types of research affect how long the data should be retained, as follows:
  • for most short-term research projects conducted for assessment purposes only, such as research projects completed by students, research data should be retained for 12 months after the completion of the project;
  • for most clinical trials, it may be necessary to retain research data for 15 years or more;
  • for areas such as gene therapy, research data must be retained permanently;
  • for the work that has community or heritage value, research data should be kept permanently, preferably within a national collection.

9. Retention Method
9.1 Researchers should facilitate long term storage, access, display, visualisation, conversion, re-use and preservation of research data by:
  • indexing the research data;
  • using durable formats, such as csv files or pdfs, to store research data;
  • agreeing file format types prior to data collection;
  • clearly stating access and reuse permissions, terms, and conditions.
Researchers should document this information in the research data management plan.
9.2 Researchers should keep electronic research data on infrastructure provided or approved by RMIT. If using infrastructure that is not approved by RMIT the researcher must ensure that the provider’s terms of service comply with RMIT policy. ITS provides advice about data storage and retention infrastructure, including on the ITS webpage on research data storage.
9.3 Research data must not be retained on portable storage devices, see Section 5.2 of this procedure.
9.4 Hardcopy research data should be retained in the school or transferred to an appropriate data repository, data management facility, or professional association. Its location should be documented in the research data management plan.
9.5 Schools provide appropriate facilities for the retention of primary materials, raw data and hardcopy research data or support researchers to access appropriate facilities.
9.6 Schools provide researchers with information about the research materials, raw data and hardcopy data that need to be retained and where they should be retained. They provide discipline specific advice on the appropriate retention period (as in Section 8 of this procedure).