24 · Survey Results: Survey Questions and Responses
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
1. Does your parent institution have a data retention policy or formal research data management
policy in place? (It may be associated with legal/regulatory compliance, intellectual property,
technology transfer, or research administration policies. It may also be associated with a document
retention policy or research practice policy. Please share links to the policies, if available, in the
“Call for Documents” section at the end of the survey). N=73
Yes, there is a policy now 16 22%
No, but one is planned in the next 1–3 years 24 33%
No 32 44%
Don’t know 1 1%
Comments N=21
Yes, there is a policy now
Current policy only covers IP &technology transfer.
The parent institution’s policies dictate records management and retention guidelines for institutional data, whereas
individual investigators have ultimate responsibility for their own research data. Research data that is also institutional
data is subject to institutional data handling requirements. With respect to research data per se, the institutional
policy is simply that “researchers are encouraged to retain research data and records for a period of at least five years
following publication to provide verification of the validity of the reported results.”
There is a policy, but it is not formally resourced or “centralized.” It is currently under revision and goes before the Board
of Governors in June 2013.
The university has many policies regarding research data management and retention. They are not currently sufficiently
comprehensive and the supports for the actual practice of data management are not yet sufficiently in place for the full
support for all involved for the full data curation lifecycle. These full supports are in development for implementation.
University Records Retention Schedule.
Yes, but only a general data retention policy that dates to 2004 and is oriented towards laboratory notebooks and
general recordkeeping. We lack a comprehensive, formal research data management policy.
No, but one is planned in the next 1–3 years
A plan is currently in draft form but there is no clear implementation timetable. The draft was completed in December
2012.
A research records policy has been approved by the Board of Governors. We are in the midst of consultations with
stakeholders on campus around further procedures and guidelines.
BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
1. Does your parent institution have a data retention policy or formal research data management
policy in place? (It may be associated with legal/regulatory compliance, intellectual property,
technology transfer, or research administration policies. It may also be associated with a document
retention policy or research practice policy. Please share links to the policies, if available, in the
“Call for Documents” section at the end of the survey). N=73
Yes, there is a policy now 16 22%
No, but one is planned in the next 1–3 years 24 33%
No 32 44%
Don’t know 1 1%
Comments N=21
Yes, there is a policy now
Current policy only covers IP &technology transfer.
The parent institution’s policies dictate records management and retention guidelines for institutional data, whereas
individual investigators have ultimate responsibility for their own research data. Research data that is also institutional
data is subject to institutional data handling requirements. With respect to research data per se, the institutional
policy is simply that “researchers are encouraged to retain research data and records for a period of at least five years
following publication to provide verification of the validity of the reported results.”
There is a policy, but it is not formally resourced or “centralized.” It is currently under revision and goes before the Board
of Governors in June 2013.
The university has many policies regarding research data management and retention. They are not currently sufficiently
comprehensive and the supports for the actual practice of data management are not yet sufficiently in place for the full
support for all involved for the full data curation lifecycle. These full supports are in development for implementation.
University Records Retention Schedule.
Yes, but only a general data retention policy that dates to 2004 and is oriented towards laboratory notebooks and
general recordkeeping. We lack a comprehensive, formal research data management policy.
No, but one is planned in the next 1–3 years
A plan is currently in draft form but there is no clear implementation timetable. The draft was completed in December
2012.
A research records policy has been approved by the Board of Governors. We are in the midst of consultations with
stakeholders on campus around further procedures and guidelines.
