Policy for the Management of Research Data at OsloMet

OsloMet will facilitate the responsible management of research data through quality assurance, storage, accessibility, and sharing. This will provide: 

• Enhanced research quality by building upon previous work and assembling data in new ways. 
• Reduced duplication of research efforts. 
• Increased transparency in research processes, as well as improved opportunities for the reproducibility of scientific results. 
• Better utilization of public funds. 
• Increased innovation and collaboration in both the public and private sectors. 
• Improved opportunities for crediting and citing research data collected or produced by academic staff. 

The purpose of this policy is to fulfil OsloMet's obligations related to research data management. The policy clarifies the distribution of responsibilities between the institution and the academic staff at OsloMet concerning the managing of research data. 

Scope  

This policy applies to all research activities carried out by academic staff at OsloMet. 

Relationship to Other Rules, Requirements, and Guidelines  

Requirements mandated by law or regulations take precedence over the guidelines. If a research funding organization, in the context of awarding project funds for research activities, imposes stricter requirements for the management of research data than those outlined in these guidelines, the funder's requirements shall take precedence. If a research funding organization does not impose requirements or imposes less stringent requirements than those outlined in the guidelines, the requirements in the guidelines will still apply. 

OsloMet, in its management of research data, shall adhere to the principle of "as open as possible, as closed as necessary." Research data shall, therefore, be made openly accessible as early as possible, unless circumstances prevent the open accessibility of the research data. OsloMet adopts the FAIR principles for the management of research data. OsloMet has also endorsed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which commits OsloMet to evaluating datasets as independent research contributions in research assessment and career guidance. Several funding agencies, including the EU Commission and the Research Council, impose requirements and guidelines that publicly funded research data should be managed and handled in accordance with the FAIR principles. Academic staff at OsloMet shall adhere to the requirements for the management of research data as outlined in this policy. OsloMet shall offer support services, including research infrastructure, to academic staff managing research data at OsloMet, to ensure compliance with the policy's requirements. 

In these guidelines, the following terms are understood as: 

Research Data:

Data collected or produced through scientific research activities and used as documentation in the research process or commonly accepted in the research community as necessary to validate research findings and results. Research data includes, among other things, statistics, experimental results, measurements, fieldwork observations, survey results, interview recordings, images, and metadata. 

Data Management Plan:

A document that describes how research data will be managed during a research project, from data collection to post-project handling. 

Metadata:

Data or information that defines or describes other research data. Metadata is structured information that locates and explains research data, making it easier to retrieve, use, reuse, interpret, or otherwise manage research data. 

Storage of Research Data:

The storage of active research data during a research project or in the context of research activities that are not organized as research projects. 

Archiving of Research Data:

Long-term preservation of research data after the research project or research activity has concluded, or upon the publication of scientific work. 

Research data must be: 

• Accurate, complete, authentic, and reliable. 
• Findable, accessible, interoperable (usable with other data), and reusable (the FAIR principles). 
• Adequately stored and archived, either centrally at the institution or in national, international, or domain-specific archives. 
• Shareable with others in accordance with the law and relevant principles for sharing research data. Research data must be managed in accordance with legal and research ethical obligations. 

The academic staff shall provide research data with metadata. Metadata shall be added to research data continuously during research activities. Where applicable, metadata shall follow international standards. Metadata and documentation should include a description of data quality. Metadata shall be made openly accessible without charge and published in a way that enables machine harvesting and use in research data searches. 

OsloMet assumes the rights to research data collected or produced in connection with research activities at the institution, unless otherwise mandated by law, agreement, or the institution's current rights policy . 

The academic staff shall prepare a data management plan that describes how research data will be managed (including data collection, storage, archiving, utilization, reuse, and potential deletion) during the research project and after project completion. The data management plan shall specify how the FAIR principles are adhered to in the management of research data. In research projects where a funder requires research data to be equipped with a data management plan, the plan shall be developed in accordance with the funder's requirements. 

The academic staff shall store research data in compliance with the law and the requirements imposed by the research funding organization and in line with OsloMet's storage guidelines. If researchers at the institution participate in research projects where the project partners plan to use a storage solution not covered by OsloMet's storage guidelines, and which shall not be owned or operated by OsloMet, the project leader at OsloMet, along with relevant research support offered by OsloMet, shall assess whether the solution can still be used. 

The academic staff member shall archive research data in compliance with the law and the requirements imposed by the research funding organization, and in line with OsloMet's archiving guidelines. Research data shall be archived as early as possible after the conclusion of the research project or research activity, in archives that facilitate accessibility.

Selection of research data where the funding body does not specify the selection of data.

In cases where academic, economic, resource-related, or other legitimate reasons necessitate a selection of which research data should be archived, the academic staff member shall make the selection.

In disciplines where established norms exist for data selection, the academic staff member shall adhere to these norms. Where no established norms exist, data selection should consider what is necessary for ensuring the reproducibility of research results and which data have long-term value for the public, a broader research community, and the academic staff member themselves. 

Archiving Duration for Research

Data the academic staff is responsible for archiving research data with a minimum archiving duration of 10 years.

If research data needs to be deleted due to the expiration of the agreed-upon archiving period or other binding regulations, deletion shall occur in accordance with the requirements of the law, ethical principles, and, where applicable, the research funding organization. 

Research data resulting from research activities at OsloMet shall be made openly accessible by the academic staff as early as possible after the conclusion of the research project or research activity, in compliance with the law or the funder's requirements. Research data shall be made openly accessible by the academic staff by archiving research data in open access archives following OsloMet's archiving guidelines, as per point 9. Research data underlying scientific publications shall be made available as early as possible. Other research data that may be of interest for reuse shall be made available within a reasonable timeframe, but no later than three years after the end of the project or research activity in cases where the research activity is not organized as a project. Research data shall be equipped with licenses for access, reuse, and redistribution. The licenses should be internationally recognized and impose as few restrictions as possible on data access, reuse, and redistribution. Licenses and applicable terms for the use, sharing, or availability of third-party data must be respected. 

Exceptions and Limitations to the Open Access Principle:  

In cases where there are legal, security, commercial, ethical, or other reasons preventing research data from being made openly accessible, exceptions to or restrictions on the requirement for data accessibility shall be applied. If research data cannot be made openly accessible, the reasons for this shall be explained in the data management plan. Metadata shall be made openly accessible even in cases where research data cannot be made openly accessible. Exceptions to or restrictions on the principle of open data accessibility (including deferred data accessibility) may be applied in the following cases: 

Data containing personal information:

In cases where research data consist of personal information, sharing or making research data accessible can only occur in accordance with personal data protection laws or other regulations governing the handling of personal information. Consent for further use and sharing of personal information and anonymization are some methods that can be used. 

Other legal considerations:

In cases where sharing or making research data accessible contradicts the law or regulations, research data shall not be shared or made openly accessible. 

Licenses and third-party rights:

If research data are subject to licenses or other third-party rights that impose restrictions on whether or how research data can be shared, these licenses and rights must be respected. 

Security considerations:

In cases where sharing or making research data accessible could threaten the security of individuals or national security, research data shall not be shared or otherwise made openly accessible. 

Commercial considerations:

Research data with current or potential commercial value may, for a limited period, be exempt from the general principle of open access, provided this is in line with the law, regulations, and funder's requirements. 

Other considerations:

In cases where making research data accessible has significant economic or practical consequences for the creator or collector of the research data or for OsloMet, research data may be exempted from the general principle of open access. This is contingent on the disadvantages to the institution or the person who collected or created the research data being substantial and clearly outweighing the benefit of making the research data openly accessible.