The Library is happy to announce the launch of Lancaster University’s Research Data Sharing and Archiving Policy, which replaces the pre-existing Research Data Management Policy. It is now live on the website, and you can read it here.

The policy applies to any member of staff or student involved in the handling of research information and data. This is regardless of whether the research has been externally funded or not.

Overall, we have simplified and condensed the pre-existing policy to make the expectations placed on both researchers and the University as transparent as possible. Our guidance is also in line with the UKRI’s guidelines on research data and Lancaster University’s principles of Open Research.

Key points

• All researchers are required to write a Data Management Plan for each research project, whether the project requires ethics approval or not.
• All research data must be stored safely and securely in line with ISS policy.
• Researchers must make appropriate decisions when finishing the Active Data phase (collection, processing, analysis, etc.) as to what data will be deleted at the end of the research process and what will become Long Term Archived Data.
• Researchers will ensure there is an appropriate handover procedure established should they leave the institution before the Active Data phase has been completed, and this procedure must be followed.
• All Long Term Archive Data should be shared openly by default and via an online repository, unless restrictions are necessary. We follow the motto of “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”.
• All researchers must observe their funders’ and publishers’ policies.
• Research must meet data protection and Freedom of Information requirements.

What can the Library help you with?

• We offer training on Research Data Management.
• We can review Data Management Plans and offered tailored advice for each project that is bespoke to each funding body.
• We can recommend appropriate repositories for your Long Term Archived Data and how to decide which datasets should be archived.
• We can support you with the depositing of datasets into repositories such as Pure.

To find out more about the new policy and research data management, you can either email us at rdm@lancaster.ac.uk or keep an eye out for our episode of ‘Talking around the library tree’ that launches on the 21 October 2024 as part of Open Access week. You can listen to previous episodes of the podcast here or available via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.