There are situations when access to research data may need to be restricted. These restrictions are most likely to arise out of the regulatory framework or the contractual arrangements that governed the generation of the research data. This guidance note outlines the main points to consider and provides a framework to help you reach a decision on when access restriction to research data is appropriate either on a temporary or permanent basis. This will need to be tensioned against the requirements of the funders and public expectations to make research results available.
Ethics and Data Protection
Sensitive and Classified Information
Intellectual Property Rights and Confidentiality
- The University Intellectual Property Regulations govern the ownership and use of Intellectual Property Rights (including research data) generated by University staff and students.
In addition, there is often a positive obligation from our non-commercial sponsors (RCUK, Medical Charities, Government Departments, EU) to consider the protection and commercialisation of any Intellectual Property Rights arising from the research they are funding. This may require a temporary delay in the release of research data until the commercial potential of the idea is assessed and protection secured (if appropriate). Only a very small proportion of the IPR generated across the University will warrant patent protection and necessitate temporary restriction on sharing. The value of the majority of University IP will be derived through publication and widest dissemination which in turn, may create opportunities. If you think your IP may have commercial potential, advice from your Collaboration Manager in RIS should be sought at the earliest opportunity to allow sufficient time for a commercial assessment.
Confidentiality obligations will also arise from the contractual arrangements entered into for research. Industry usually is very cautious but so are government departments and public sector organisations. Whereas RIS will seek to secure terms and conditions that maximise your academic freedom (including the right to publish and to re-use the research outputs), industry sponsors will often impose confidentiality obligations and restrictions on the Intellectual Property Rights (including research data) arising from the work they fund at the University. Where consultancy terms are imposed because the research is more “applied”, it is most likely no on-going rights can be preserved. It is also worth bearing in mind that if you are working in collaboration with other universities, there may be joint ownership issues. These need to be agreed and should be covered by the proposal and collaboration agreement. Advice on the terms and conditions governing research projects should be sought from the Research Support Officer in your Faculty.
Use of third party data
- If you use data owned by a third party (copyright material, software or database), you need to understand the terms under which these are obtained and the scope of use. It is necessary to obtain permission from the data owner for re-use of such material, unless conditions of re-use have been explicitly indicated, for example, with a Creative Commons licence. It is your responsibility to ensure you comply with the terms that apply. Advice on terms and conditions for the in-licensing of data or software can be sought from the Research Support Officer in your Faculty. In most instances, these are not negotiable. However, it may be possible to seek specific use terms or negotiate different licensing arrangements more appropriate to your specific requirements. It may be that in some circumstances, a commercial licence offers more freedom-to-operate than provisions for academic purposes.
You may also find that the terms of use of some data services, such as Census statistics, require you to deposit derived work with them. When depositing data in a repository you will be required to agree to a licence that asserts you have the rights to deposit that data.
Publication agreements
- Some publishers require that supporting data be submitted with articles for publication; in other cases that supporting data is deposited in a designated service or repository. Particular consideration should be given to any rights the publisher asks you to assign. While it has been common practice for publishers to seek transfer of copyright for research papers, this is not yet established for supporting data. Broadly, you should ensure that rights you are asked to assign for data do not conflict with the University regulations on IPR. It is increasingly recognised that researchers should explicitly retain the rights to reuse and share their own data and publications, through data and publication repositories, for example, and should avoid assigning rights that prevent this.
Other restrictions
- There is often a time dimension to decisions on when to release data for sharing. With the emergence of networked data management services, best practice will be to store data at the point of generation, but to specify when that data might be shared, e.g. after further processing, after validation, after publication, etc. In some cases, restrictions may be set by others and apply for a set period, e.g. an embargo, after which data can be shared.
Restrictions on access to research data during and after the end of the project need to be addressed in the initial research proposal and throughout the life of the project as part of your data management plan. Some Funders may require statements justifying why data should be restricted as part of their application process. This may also need to be addressed in ethics applications.
Note that those datasets identified as being unsuitable for sharing still need to be managed and stored in accordance with the University policy. Access can be restricted by adding the appropriate metadata on the deposit form. Identification and security of sensitive data is important. Sensitive data should be flagged at the start of a project in a data management plan.
Any request for access to your research data under the Freedom of Information Act should be directed to the University FOI Officer in Legal Services.
