What is completed research data?
Completed research data is data that needs to be preserved in a particular state, as it is deemed to be valuable and worth retaining for reuse or to authenticate findings.
What does Ulster's Research Data Management policy require of you?
The University’s requirement is that original research data must be retained for 10 years following the conclusion of any study. This to accommodate any review or verification requirements, the publication cycle and possible future research for which existing data might provide a useful resource. In this context research data includes protocols, instruments, screening tools, permissions, consent forms and similar materials.
How do I assess which datasets fall within this retention policy?
When deciding which of the data produced in your project should be stored for the long term, consider the following criteria. If you answer 'Yes' to any of these questions, you should archive the data.
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Does this version of the dataset support a publication?
Data that directly underpin research findings which have been or will be published, and that must be retained in order that these findings can be independently substantiated;
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Does your funder stipulate a retention period for the data?
Most funders expect you to provide at least the information that someone would need to be able to validate your published research as a minimum. For detailed requirements, check your funder's policy.
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Are you responsible for keeping the master copy (as its creator or owner)?
Try to find out if other copies of the data exist and are accessible and useable. If other copies exist, make sure the most comprehensive or up-to-date version is archived.
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Is the dataset unique and cannot be re-created?
Some data by their nature cannot be re-measured or re-created such. These include e.g. earth observations or people-based data. These datasets may often warrant indefinite storage and preservation.
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Would the data be useful in further research?
Data that have enduring value independent of any published findings. This may be value to yourself, in view of possible future research or the exploitation of any IPR, to other researchers, who might usefully interrogate them to generate further insights, or to other stakeholders such as industrial collaborators for whom the data may hold commercial interest.
Digitisation of hard copy documents
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I have data originally created as hard copy, can I digitise this for future retention?
Unless you have specified in an ethics application or similar that documents will be permanently retained as hard copy, there is no requirement for you to do so, even if the document was originally created as hard copy (for example, consent forms). So, it is perfectly acceptable to scan and save hard copy documents as electronic equivalents for future retention. This applies to current and completed studies.
Even if you have indicated that a particular document will be retained as hard copy, that is likely to apply only to the duration of the study and not thereafter. If the study and associated activities are complete and the data needs to be retained under the University’s 10 year policy, it is acceptable to digitise that information.
The only exceptions are likely to be:
- Documents of legal standing (eg a contract) where ink signatures are required for assurance and compliance purposes.
- Where funders require hard copy of financial and other records to be retained.
Where should you archive your data?
Why use Ulster's PURE data repository to archive and to share your data?
- Using PURE will make your work more discoverable to other researchers and institutions via Ulster University's Research Portal;
- You can relate your dataset to any other content in PURE (e.g. Projects, Research Outputs) to build a joined up picture of your research;
- In line with Ulster's DOI Policy, you can be issued with a DOI for your dataset via DataCite;
- You have the ability to chose if your research data appears in the public portal or if it remains backend with associated information on how the data might be accessed.
There may be circumstances where deposit to an external repository is a more appropriate option, for example:
- A specialist or disciplinary focused repository exists that provides data with greater impact;
- In joint research projects the data is deposited in the repository of a collaborator;
- The funder of the research mandates a specific data repository.
Are you depositing in an external repository?
If you are depositing data in an external repository, Ulster's RDM Policy requires a corresponding dataset record be created in PURE which references and links to the external repository, see the step-by-step guide Using PURE for Datasets.
Any completed research data which is retained or hosted within the University but outside of PURE must also have a dataset record deposit in PURE describing the research data/datasets and pointing to where this is located - see the step-by-step guide Using PURE for Datasets.
Why Should I Share my Research Data with Others?
Five great reasons to share your research data
More citations of your published research articles
When you share the dataset that underpins your article, it’s not just the article that might be reused or cited; data sharing is also associated with an increase in citations to your research article of up to 25%.
Greater discoverability and enhanced visibility
Sharing data in a repository makes it visible, and easily found by researchers other than those reading the journal you’ve published in. Data repositories are increasingly searchable on Google and indexed in resources like Google Dataset Search. The metadata you add to your data’s repository record helps others to understand how it was generated and what it consists of.
Get credit for your work and gain recognition
Not content with just increased citations of your article? More and more journals allow authors to cite datasets in reference lists, so if someone reuses your data, you get an additional citation for it.
New opportunities for collaboration
When your data can be easily found, other researchers can reuse it; or they may wish to work with you collaboratively to build on the data you’ve already shared.
Allow for reproducibility and verification of results
The integrity of your research is supported by publishing your research datasets. It allows others to reproduce or replicate your results, increasing transparency, which can enhance your reputation as a researcher.
Funder requirements on Data Sharing
Most research funders (research councils, charities, foundations) have introduced policies on research data management. The general expectation is that publicly funded research data are a public good, and should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible. On top of that, funders have their individual data policies which provide beneficiaries with instructions on how to treat research data.
Your funders' data policy statement should be reviewed before commencing your research project. In addition, Sherpa Juliet is a searchable database with up-to-date information concerning funders' policies and their requirements on open access, publication and data archiving.
Publishers and Data Sharing Policies
A growing number of journals now have data sharing policies which stipulate that data supporting published research findings should be deposited in a data centre or repository.
Publishers with data sharing polices include:
- ACS Research Data Policy
- Elsevier Research Data Policy
- Oxford University Press Data Availability Policies
- PLOS ONE Data Availability Policy
- SAGE Data Sharing Policies
- Springer Research Data Policies
- Taylor & Francis Data Sharing Policies
- Wiley Data Sharing Policies
This list is not exhaustive. If your publisher is not listed here, please check with them whether they have a data sharing policy.
Data Access Statements
Data access statements are included in publications to describe where the data associated with the paper is available, and under what conditions the data can be accessed. They are required by many funders and scientific journals as well as the UKRI Common Principles on Data Policy.
Complying with UKRI grant conditions
UKRI's Open Access Policy requires research articles acknowledging UKRI funding to contain data access statements even if there are no data associated with the article or the data are inaccessible.
Underlying research materials are research data as defined in the Concordat on Open Research Data and can include code, software, numerical scores, textual records, images, sounds, objects and manuscripts.
Further Information
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Where to locate a data access statement
We recommend including a data accessibility statement either in a section provided in the article template from your journal or as a sentence within the acknowledgements section and also include the citation in the list of references as described below:
“The research data [supporting/ underpinning] this publication can be accessed at [DOI] [reference number]”
For example:
The research data supporting this publication can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.21251/5dc06676-a5e9-4312-81f0-b3e1b0e00fe3 [39].
References: ...
[39] Watterson, Steven; Shukla, Priyank; McClean, Paula; (2021). Multimorbidity in the UK Biobank and its change over time. Ulster University. https://doi.org/10.21251/5dc06676-a5e9-4312-81f0-b3e1b0e00fe3.
Please note that some journals might have specific guidelines regarding the formatting and wording of data access statements and where they should be included. Authors should check these guidelines to ensure that their datasets are cited correctly.
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Some use cases and examples
- Data is provided as supplementary files on the journal website:
"All data supporting this study is provided as supplementary information accompanying this paper." - Data has been submitted to a discipline-specific archive (without a DOI):
"All reads are publicly available and have been submitted to the European Nucleotide Archive with the ENA accession number PRJEB28455" - More than one digital output exists:
"Gene expression data are publicly available under GenBank accession number [ACC NUMBER] at [URL]. Computational code for data processing is available at the Ulster University Research Portal at [DOI]." - Secondary data was used or re-analysed:
"This study is based on the re-analysis of existing data, which is openly available and cited in the manuscript. Additional documentation on data processing and analysis are available at the Ulster University Research Portal at [DOI]." - Sensitive data:
"The raw data underpinning this study cannot be made publicly available due to ethical concerns. An anonymised dataset and further information about the data and conditions for access are available at the Ulster University Research Portal [DOI]." - Commercial/ Intellectual Property constraints:
- Temporary embargo:
"The research data underpinning this publication will be available from the Ulster University Research Portal at [DOI] following a [X] months embargo to allow for commercialisation of the results." - Subject to non-disclosure agreements or approval:
"The research data underpinning this publication can only be made available subject to [a non-disclosure agreement/ approval by a data access committee]. Information about the data and conditions for access are available at the Ulster University Research Portal [DOI]."
- Temporary embargo:
- No new data has been produced (e.g. theoretical work, review articles):
"No new data were created during the study."
- Data is provided as supplementary files on the journal website:
- Links to major Publishers' guidance for authors on data availability statements