La Trobe University research data management policy and procedure

The La Trobe University Research Data Management Policy and Procedure set out at a high level the obligations of La Trobe University researchers around the management of research data and primary materials. These Guidelines provide detailed information to assist researchers to fulfill these obligations. To understand how the Research Data Management Policy and Procedures relates to graduate researchers and their supervisors at La Trobe University, please see the "Graduate researchers and supervisors" data management guide.

A brief overview of the Policy is as follows:

Research Data is “[a]ny data collected during research which would be used to validate the research findings and/or facilitate the reproduction of the research.” Such data must be:

• accurate, complete, authentic and support verification of research results;
• attributable and citable through applying persistent identifiers;
• identifiable, retrievable and available with minimal barriers;
• managed through research data management plans which clearly document how the data will be collected, owned, retained, stored and preserved;
• assigned ownership in accordance with La Trobe University’s Intellectual Property Statute 2009, subject to any relevant third party agreements, or licences in favour of the University;
• made available to others subject to any contractual or other legal restrictions, and appropriate ethical, defence related, data sharing and open access principles;
• secure from loss or degradation;
• held in a manner that is compliant with legal obligations, ethical responsibilities and the rules of funding bodies;
• retained for as long as they are of continuing value or interest to the global research community or other interested parties, and as specified by any research funding agreement, professional standards, legal or other requirements.

The Procedure is now Section 4 of the Policy and is where the responsibilities of a number of relevant groups are outlined. The following is only a summary, and the Procedure should be read in full:

• The University is responsible for provision of governance, facilities and services for storage and sharing, training, support, advice, these guidelines, and monitoring compliance.
• Heads of schools and other organisational units are responsible for provision of storage and ensuring researchers are aware of their responsibilities.
• Chief investigators are responsible for many aspects of research data management, including planning, allocating resources appropriately, organising storage, publishing data where possible, and ensuring data are maintained appropriately for verification.
• Other researchers are also responsible for a number of things, including ensuring data are accurate, complete, authentic and reliable, keeping records, and data retention in line with a number of requirements.
• Supervisors of higher degree by research students are responsible for ensuring their students understand their responsibilities and take joint responsibility for data management with the students.

The Procedure also sets out requirements around:

• research data planning;
• storage of data and primary materials;
• ownership of data and primary materials;
• access to and transfer of data and primary materials;
• sharing research data;
• retention and preservation of data and primary materials;
• exit planning;
• disposal of research data and primary materials.

La Trobe University Research Data Management Policy and Procedure

Other relevant La Trobe University policies