Research Data Management (RDM): Policies & Procedures

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Funding bodies and governments are increasingly adapting and developing policies to require good data management. 

Researchers are responsible for making themselves aware of any relevant codes and complying with them.

The Principal/Chief Investigator must ensure that the project is conducted in line with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct for Research and associated policies, protocols, and procedures required by CDU and is responsible for the obligations of the relevant funding guidelines and agreements.

Failure to comply with requirements from funding bodies like the ARC or NHMRC may jeopardise future research funding. Failure to comply with legal requirements, such as those that safeguard participants in medical research, may lead to prosecution.

Data Management Policies

All research activities administered by CDU must be strategically aligned with CDU priorities in a manner consistent with:

External Funder Requirements

CDU aims to increase its collaboration with a wide variety of partners. Staff are encouraged to seek external research funding from various sources and participate in consultancies that are strategically important for the university.

The Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) supports the CDU research community in identifying grant and tender opportunities in the Northern Territory, Australia and worldwide.

For more information and guidance, contact Grant Applications and Awards team at rgbd@cdu.edu.au.

See the policies of the two major funding bodies.

	NHMRC Funding Agreement
	ARC Research Data Management Requirement

National Health and Medical Research Council

The NHMRC requires researchers to document data management practices and carefully consider issues such as ownership, ethics, storage, data sharing and disposal.

In its Principles for Accessing and Using Publicly Funded Data for Health Research, NHMRC:

•    acknowledges the importance of making data publicly accessible
•    encourages data sharing and open access to data and other research outputs (metadata, analysis code, study protocols, study materials and other collected data) arising from NHMRC-supported research

Management of Data and Information in Research: A guide supporting the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research covers the responsible conduct of research and includes within its scope the appropriate generation, collection, access, use, analysis, disclosure, storage, retention, disposal, sharing and re-use of data and information.
 

Australian Research Council

In their Research Data Management Strategy and Requirement, the ARC outlined a commitment to maximising the benefits of ARC-funded research by ensuring greater access to research data. 

Since February 2014, the ARC has required researchers to outline how they plan to manage research data arising from ARC-funded research. From 2020, this requirement forms part of the agreement for funding under the National Competitive Grants Program (Discovery and Linkage Grants).
 

Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

The OECD Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from Public Funding (2007) also provide guidance on managing data and primary materials. As an OECD member, the ARC notes that Australia is expected to implement these principles and guidelines.

Journals and Publishers Policies

Like funders, publishers and journals are increasingly expecting researchers to make data associated with scientific publications available to others.

Currently, journal data availability policies range from mere encouragements to share data that underpin publications to mandatory requirements.

In 2015, “Science” published guidelines for journals to help promote an open science culture. The Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines include eight modular standards, each with four levels of increasing stringency. Journal policies can be evaluated based on the degree to which they comply with the TOP Guidelines. Additionally, The Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles encompasses eight principles that stress the importance and legitimacy of data, the need to give scholarly credit to contributors and the importance of data as evidence.

The TOP Guidelines identify four levels of 'Data Transparency':

Level 0 – Encourage - The journal encourages data sharing, or says nothing.
Level 1 – Disclose - Articles must state whether data are available, and, if so, where to access them.
Level 2 – Require -Data must be posted to a trusted repository. Exceptions must be identified at article submission. 
Level 3 – Verify - Data must be posted to a trusted repository, and reported analyses will be reproduced independently before publication.
 

Many publishers have implemented the above or similar frameworks for Data Availability Policies and Data Availability Statements, including:  

	Elsevier
	Springer Nature
	Taylor and Francis
	Wiley
	Oxford University Press

The specific requirements regarding data availability can usually be found on a journal's website (e.g. in the editorial policies or instructions for authors).

For assistance, contact CDU’s Research Data Librarian