Policy

Research Data Policy – Get Started

1. Look up you institution’s Governance and Policy web pages. Your institution will provide templates and instruction on the process required to create and have a policy approved and implemented 
2. Check out the existing Research policies – these should include a Code for the practice of research based on Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research – December 2007.
3. Draft polices will be checked by your legal advisers to ensure they do not contradict existing policies.

Consult with key Stakeholders – Background building the business case

1. Who or what group will make the final decision for the institution to commit to manage research data and materials and make it available for reuse?
2. Who are the key stakeholders in your institution – the DVR, ITS, Research Office and Library would be involved in the implementation?
3. Are they currently involved in a discussion of the possibility of managing research data and making it available for reuse (they should be represented on a steering committee).
4. Prepare an overview and present it to Steering Committee asking for input:

• Map the existing situation – number of researchers and projects currently underway
• What policies, services are in place?
• What do researchers need?
• Estimate (guess) volume of data currently held and distributed across different departments 
• Has there been an audit of compliance with the code at any time since 2007?

How will the institution implement RDM?

Who will be responsible for Research data and materials?
Usually this is:

• Researcher
• Faculty and then
• Institution

What resources are available to provide for the management and storage of the research data and materials?

• Storage outside of the faculty or department?
• Assistance with metadata or other data management issues (ITS)
• Data Management tools such as Data Management Checklists (Library)
• Training for researchers in data management techniques (ITS & Library)
• Advice on Ethics, IP and commercialisation
• Tools such as high performance computing and visualisation

Are there any plans to change this in the future?

Consider what the institution will be able to implement and how that would be expressed in a policy statement – will it go further than the Code?

If your institution is not ready for policy – put up some guidelines or records management advice

Examples:
Murdoch University - Research Data and Materials Recordkeeping Guidelines
University of New South Wales - Procedure for Handling Research Material & Data

Draft the Policy

While the Policy is being drafted you may wish to have the management publish a statement of intent.

Examples:
"The University of Oxford is committed to supporting researchers in appropriate curating and preservation of their research data, and where applicable in accordance with the research funders' requirements."

“QUT recognises research data as a valuable product of research activity which can assist in promoting open enquiry and debate, complementing research outputs and publications, providing research transparency, and justifying research outcomes.”

Wording of the policy

ANDS review of existing policies shows that a Data Management policy will have a mix of the following:

1. Aims at best or good practice in data management
2. Is supported by guidelines or procedures
3. Assigns responsibility for Data Management to the whole of the institution
4. States that data should be made available for reuse if appropriate ( not precluded by ethics or IP)
5. Refers to data management plan (2 policies do this)

Refer to the following examples can be found on the ANDS page Data Management Resources from this page you can access the polices and procedures as well as the tools

__________________

A Suggestion:

Look at QUT, Newcastle, Wollongong, Monash and Melbourne they all have policy, procedures and tools.