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Topic

Data Retention

14 June 2024
HOW TO APPLY

The Research Conduct Policy states that听听

鈥淥riginal data and software on which published material is based, should be kept for at least six years, or as specified in any relevant funding contract but, preferably, indefinitely. The Human Ethics Committee requires retention for five years for Master鈥檚 or lower level student research data and retention for ten years for PhD level student and University staff research data. Indefinite storage of data involving human participants requires disclosure to, and consent of, those participants, as does any future use of such data by researchers other than those who gathered it.鈥听听

Research data has requirements for data retention over the course of the project and afterwards. With support from the University, researchers are responsible for retaining research data in accordance with their Research Data Management Plan and the University鈥檚 retention periods. These retention periods may be extended through ethics approval processes or contractual agreements with funders or data providers.聽

Minimum Period (years)Research Data Classification

All research data鈥痷nless otherwise described.

6 years from completion of the research activity.

All data classifications.

Research data subject to the Ethics Committee requirements.聽

Health data, including clinical trial data, and routinely collected health data used for research).聽

5 years for Masters鈥 or lower level student research data.聽

10 years for PhD level student and UC staff research data.聽

Indefinite retention and reuse require express consent.聽

Ethics requirements may increase the minimum retention period for research data in certain circumstances, e.g., legal requirements.鈥

Ethics requirements may differentiate minimum retention periods and deletion requirements for identifiable data and for de-identified (anonymised) data, in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.聽

In Confidence, Sensitive and/or Special (Dependent on the human ethics approval processes, data management plan and funder requirements).聽

Research data associated with鈥痳egistered patent.

20 years from filing.鈥

Public鈥痺here the data are included in the published patent.鈥

Otherwise, data is classified as鈥疭ensitive.鈥

Community interest, heritage value, long-term preservation.

Dependent on access agreements and any applicable legislative requirements.鈥

All data classifications.

As your research project comes to an end, it is crucial to consider how long your research data needs to be retained. As well as UC鈥檚 Research Conduct Policy, there are often legal & ethical requirements for this from journal publishers, funding bodies, ethics committee as well as statutory requirements. In general, sensitive data should only be kept for as long as is required, and then should be securely destroyed. Refer to your Data Management Plan and work with your supervisor, Data Librarian and eResearch Consultant on the preservation, disposal, and destruction of data.

For support in this area, please contact the eResearch team by filling out the .

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