Research data management

The best thing you can do for yourself is to plan for the storage and safe keeping of your data. This will prevent accidental loss and unauthorised manipulation of your data and will save you time, money, and many headaches.

Active data storage

For research projects, the University provides secure and centrally managed storage (RDS) for active data. All documents and data relating to the projects should be stored in the RDS system. Please see the University's Research Data Management page for more information.

Personal Data

Personal data is especially sensitive and its safeguarding is dictated by legislation. Manchester Metropolitan University is responsible for complying with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) whenever personal data is processed. The University has a Data Protection Policy setting out our compliance statement, and the RDS system is secure for handling this type of data.

End-of-project data

At the end of your project, you will need to evaluate which data can be retained and which data should be disposed of.

The decision to retain data for long-term preservation or reuse will be determined by various factors. These include if the data,

• Have legal or contractual reasons to be kept (e.g. research funder policy).
• Are unique
• Cannot be easily reproduced
• Are scientifically, socially, or culturally significant
• Are of interest to others or has a high reuse potential
• Substantiates research publications and findings

Because of the value and potential reuse of this data in unforeseen ways, it is beneficial to make the data available. You can do this through a subject or research repository. To make your data available in the University's research repository see deposit data. Contact the library rsl@mmu.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Basic principles of data storage

To ensure the safety, integrity and accessibility of your data, you will need to take into consideration your data needs:

• Data format: Is your data in a physical or digital format? Does it require special equipment to access or may become obsolete in a couple years?
   
• Time scale: How will you store the data during your research project? How will the data be archived for future use and usability?
   
• Size: How much storage space will you need?
   
• Access and security:  Who will have access to your data during the project? How will data be securely transferred between collaborators?

• Funder requirements: Are there any requirements on the location or type of data storage for finished data?

Support

If you have any questions, Information Systems and Digital Services have support for information security at Manchester Metropolitan University.

You can also find more information about how to handle these issues at the UK Data Service webpages on Data Security