The University

The University is responsible for:

Deans of Institutes and Directors of Research Centres

Deans of Institutes and Directors of Research Centres (or nominees) are responsible for:

Individual University researchers

Individual University researchers are responsible for maintaining accurate and complete records of their research data and primary research materials, and those of research groups for which they are Principal Investigators, and for ensuring secure storage. 

University researchers are responsible for and required to:

All research data should be stored together with its associated documentation where possible.

All researchers are encouraged, as good practice, to develop a Research Data Management Plan when planning research projects and other research activities.  The Plan should include information in relation to:

Researchers must comply with any of the following requirements that are relevant when developing the Research Data Management Plan:

All applications to the Human Research Ethics Committee or the Animal Ethics Committee should consider Research Data Management and, in particular, data sharing and re-use, in the context of privacy, confidentiality and consent, cultural sensitivity, and community-based research. 

Data should be available for other researchers unless there are satisfactory reasons not to do so.

Ethics applications should be explicit about any plans to provide other researchers with access to data, and describe strategies for protecting privacy and confidentiality, e.g. by ensuring that:

Any Plain Language Information Statement and consent forms submitted for approval should be explicit about any plans to make research data available, who will be able to access the research data, and how the research data may be accessed and potentially re-used (by the named researchers or by others).

In relation to data storage, researchers must refer to the Federation University Digital Research Data Storage Charts:

Appendix A: Data Storage Options Chart

Appendix B: Data Storage Options Flowchart

Appendix C: Research Data Management Practice Guidelines

Active Research Phase

During the active research phase (data collection and analysis) researchers must use the University endorsed personal or shared file storage provided to staff and students.

It is expected that all working research data and drafts of research outputs will be managed within the systems provided by the University.  This ensures that materials and files are backed up regularly. 

If data is to be used off site for periods of time (e.g. by researchers working in the field, or with industry partners), copies must be kept on password protected devices and backed up as often as possible.  However, portable media such as external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and USB devices must not be used for long-term storage of primary materials, research data or records as they can be easily misplaced or corrupted due to damage. 

Hard copies of research data must be stored within the relevant Institute or Centre in locked storage facilities, with the exception that during the active research phase, a research partner’s institutional storage facilities may also be used. 

Upon Completion of Active Research Phase

After the active research phase, all research data, primary research materials and related documentation must be stored in systems provided by the University, or an institutional or disciplinary repository for the minimum retention period for the purposes of validating the research, furthering knowledge and to aid preservation and access.

Where University researcher collaborate with researchers from other institutions, it is expected that the University would hold a copy of the portions of research data created by the University researcher or created using University resources.

It is expected that all research data and drafts of research outputs will be managed within the systems endorsed by the University.  This ensures that materials and files are backed up regularly.

Researchers are encouraged to store and make available their research data according to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-useable) principles.  This ensures that it can be discovered, accessed, re-used and cited by other researchers.  Research data and primary research materials should normally be made available for further research under open access by use of appropriate Creative Commons or equivalent licences, or by mediated negotiable or controlled access. 

Exceptions will be made for data and primary research materials when precluded by the conditions under which they were obtained (for example in accordance with any contractual or funding arrangements, or copyright, ethical or confidentiality requirements). 

Major Australian funders have policies around sharing of research data from projects which they fund: the ARC encourages researchers to deposit data arising from ARC Funded Research in publicly accessible repositories; and the NHMRC strongly encourages researchers to take reasonable steps to share research data arising from NHMRC supported research. 

Researchers should adhere to established national and international standards for data description and structuring to facilitate reuse and citation of research data. These standards include using Digital Object Identifiers for datasets, ORCiDs for researchers, and standard vocabularies or terminology for scientific concepts. Published research data generally require some kind of online description (i.e. metadata) and should be as FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable) as possible, both manually and with automated tools.  

This requires researchers to include appropriate context (descriptive, technical, methodological, access, and provenance information) either within the data structure or in separate metadata records for the research data. Researchers should consider the options for licensing of research data in order to provide clear parameters around the use and re-use of this data. When considering licensing for this purpose, the least restrictive option, such as a Creative Commons Attribution licence, is encouraged. Researchers should be prepared to justify the use of more restrictive controls. 

Federation.figshare is an online digital repository where researchers can preserve and share research outputs, including figures, datasets, software/code, images, videos, posters and presentations.  Material stored on Federation.figshare is determined to be suitable for permanent retention. 

Federation.figshare is managed by Federation University Library and researchers are encouraged to attend training sessions provided by the Library.

Researchers should store and publish their data, where possible, in Federation.figshare or other approved research data repositories, to facilitate finding, accessing and reusing the data.  Researchers are able to link from their research datasets in Federation.figshare to related research publications.  Researchers can also provide a link from research outputs to the underlying dataset stored in Federation.figshare.

All research data intended to be stored or transferred outside Australia must be assessed by the researcher to determine whether the transfer of the research data is affected by export control laws.  All permit applications must be sought through Research Services, and records of transfers must be maintained for the approved duration period by the researcher. 

For access to research data involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, refer to the following:

In order to ensure that the University is able to justify the outcomes of research, and to defend challenged research outcomes as required by The Code, it is necessary for the University to remain the custodian of research data and primary materials acquired during research, unless the research data and primary materials are owned by a third party. 

The Code also states that the potential value of data and material for further research should be considered, particularly where the research would be difficult or impossible to repeat.  While it may not be practical to keep all primary research material (such as soils, biological material, questionnaires, simulations or recordings), durable records derived from them (such as assays, test results, transcripts, and laboratory and field notes) must be retained and made accessible to other researchers where practicable.

University researchers must determine which data and materials should be retained based on conventions in their discipline, legislative or contractual requirements, The Code, and in accordance with the provisions of these Procedures. 

The minimum recommended period of retention of research data and primary materials (other than short-term research projects for assessment only) is 5 years from the date of publication (or equivalent) however, this may vary according to the nature of the research and to the respective discipline and specialisation. In some instances, researchers may be bound by the requirements of a funding body or external agency, unless those agencies or bodies stipulate a period of retention less than that required by law.  Section 2.3 of the Guide to Management of Data and Information in Research (2019) provides further advice. 

Factors which researchers may take into consideration when considering permanent retention of data include: 

In the event that a researcher leaves the institution, the University will remain the custodian of research data and primary research materials acquired or created during a researcher’s formal association with the institution.  As such: 

All research data and primary research materials are considered University records and must be stored, disposed of, or transferred in accordance with University policies and procedures, any relevant ethics applications, and legislative requirements. 

Disposal of research data and primary research materials which are not to be retained should be planned and deliberate, using secure disposal mechanisms so they cannot be used or reconstructed in unauthorised ways.  Researchers should refer to the Records Management Procedure. 

Consideration should be given to assessment and disposal of research data (if appropriate) when developing a Research Data Management Plan for each research project.  As a minimum, research data and primary research materials should be retained for sufficient time to allow reference to them by other researchers and interested parties. 

In the event that results from research are challenged, all associated research data and materials must be retained until the matter is resolved.  Research records that may be subject to allegations of research misconduct must not be destroyed

Research data created by staff of the University in the course of their employment is owned by the University in accordance with Federation University Australia’s Statute 2021 Part 7 – Intellectual Property, subject to any relevant third-party agreements, or licences in favour of the University.  Intellectual property rights in research data created by students of the University are retained by the University, while the student retains copyright in any thesis produced.  Refer to the Intellectual Property Procedure for further details.. 

In the event that a researcher leaves the institution, the University will remain the custodian of research data and primary research materials acquired during a researcher’s formal association with the University.  

Data relating to research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 

With respect to the ownership of data and information/intellectual property used in or generated by research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities, the University or its researchers may hold data or information; however, they should not make decisions about the access to or reuse of this data or information/intellectual property without proper consultation with its Indigenous owners, if any. 

Researchers undertaking research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must refer to the following:

Data from Collaborative Research Projects 

When collaborative research projects are undertaken ownership of data must be established and agreed to in writing before a project begins. 

Where University researchers collaborate with researchers from other institutions, the researcher will retain those portions of research data or primary research materials created by that researcher, or which used Federation University Australia resources. These data or materials will be stored in a University-approved repository. 

Use of Third-Party data 

Use or incorporation of data which has been created and/or made available by third parties must be used in accordance with the licence or conditions which have been granted by the data creator or owner. As a minimum, this would generally require full and correct attribution and citation of the data.