Legal, Ethical and Commercial Issues
Data Policy and Planning
How does the institution publicise legislation that affects research data? e.g. Data Protection Act (1998) and Freedom of Information in the UK (also Database Rights) Are policies or guidelines provided?
What is institutional policy with regard to private and sensitive data?
What is the institution's policy on commercialisation of research data?
What guidelines are provided on gaining informed consent from research participants to enable sharing and reuse of data beyond the lifetime of a project?
What role does the Research Development & Support Office (or equivalent) play? In which areas does it provide support?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Capture and Collection (Primary Data)
What policies, guidelines or recommendations exist relating to legal, ethical and commercial issues during data collection?
Are there financial or contractual obligations that may require a researcher to retain or destroy primary data at the end of a project?
What legal, ethical or commercial policies or guidelines relate to management of primary data?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Processing and Analysis (Intermediate Data)
What policies, guidelines or recommendations relate to legal, ethical and commercial issues during data processing and analysis?
Are there any financial or contractual obligations that may require a researcher to retain or destroy intermediate data at the end of a project?
What legal, ethical or commercial policies or guidelines relate to management of intermediate data?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Data Curation
Who is responsible for the long-term stewardship of research data generated by institutional researchers?
What policies exist on legal, ethical and commercial considerations during data deposit?
Are there any financial or contractual obligations that require researchers to retain or destroy research data at the end of a project?
What legal, ethical and commercial policies or guidelines are there in relation to long-term RDM?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Publication and Sharing
What guidelines does the institution provide with regard to data release? E.g. periods of embargo
What policies govern access, sharing and publication of research datasets?
Are there mechanisms in place to ensure legal and/or ethical use of institutional data?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Reuse and Impact
What guidelines are in place relating to the use, reuse, repurposing and integration of existing datasets?
How is involvement or collaboration with the public encouraged? e.g. crowd-sourcing, citizen science etc. What policies or guidelines are provided for this purpose?
How does the institution monitor the reuse of research data?
Notes
Is there more to do in this area?
Yes
No
Back to institution perspective