You need to manage research data at all stages of the research process. We guide you to in-depth information on planning, organising, sharing, and preserving data. You can get support in your data management from experts at the University and national organisations. On this page, you will also find relevant policy documents for Umeå University and information about the FAIR principles.
Research data is any data you produce or collect as part of your research. For example, it can be data from measurements, statistics, or interview material.
For your research to be credible, it is important that others can review and reuse your data. It is also increasingly common for funders and journals to make demands on how your data is handled and shared.
The University's regulations include the following documents relevant to research data management.
Umeå University has also developed a checklist to guide you before, during, and after a research project.
Checklist for research projects
Many funding organisations require research data to fulfil the FAIR principles, which Umeå University supports. The FAIR principles aim to facilitate the reuse of research data.
Making research data accessible and FAIR criteria (The Swedish Research Council)
Four principles for FAIR data
FAIR data, that is research data that fulfils the FAIR principles, should be:
You can read more about the FAIR principles here:
CARE: Indigenous rights and open data
The shift towards open science and increased access to research data is seen as both a significant advance and a source of concern among the world's indigenous peoples. There are concerns that ethical aspects may suffer as data becomes increasingly openly available. When data can be reused in new contexts, indigenous peoples cannot track their data. Situations may arise where there is no apparent link between the indigenous contexts from which materials and data have been collected and the research context in which the data is being reused.
The CARE principles complement the FAIR principles and encourage researchers to consider both people and purpose when sharing or reusing data.
You can read more about CARE in this feature:
CARE: Indigenous rights and open data
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity was developed in 2017 by the organisation All European Academies (ALLEA) and aims to guide researchers to good research practice. The guidelines address several aspects of research work, one of which is data management. Among other things, the guidelines state that researchers and research-performing organisations should ensure compliance with the FAIR principles and be transparent about data availability.
European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA)
At Umeå University, research data support is coordinated, but different functions are responsible for specific data management issues. Here you can read about which support you can get:
