Data retention

Retention periods for research data may be influenced by a number of factors, such as:

funding body requirements (generally a minimum of 5 years)
legislative or regulatory requirements, for example, statutory retention periods, set by governments, for records
university policies on data management
agreements or contracts with research and industry partners
likely interest in the data from other researchers
the needs of the research project team.

Some research data have lasting research value for researchers and the general public. In such cases, the decision may be made to keep data for a longer period or even permanently. Longer-term and permanent retention of research outputs such as publications are recommended where the outcomes of the research:

are or may become of great public interest or contention
substantially shift the paradigm in the research field
have resulted in the identification, registration and use of intellectual property such as patent applications.

Deposit in repository or achive

Depositing data in a repository or archive is one way of ensuring your data can be accessed and cited in the long term.

A commitment to deposit research data may soon become a requirement for gaining research funding or publishing your research. For example, the Nature Publishing Group requires supporting data to be made available for review by readers of articles they publish.

In Australia, funding rules for 2011 ARC Discovery Projects encourage researchers to deposit their data in a repository or archive. Researchers who do not intend to deposit their data within 12 months need to explain why in the project's final report. A similar approach has been taken by the NHMRC's Project Grants Funding Policy for research starting from 2010.

Repositories will generally maintain both your data and their metadata. They will work to keep your data usable over the long term.

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research states:

2.5.1 Researchers should retain research data and primary materials for sufficient time to allow reference to them by other researchers and interested parties. For published research data, this may be for as long as interest and discussion persist following publication.

2.5.4 If the results from research are challenged, all relevant data and materials must be retained until the matter is resolved. Research records that may be relevant to allegations of research misconduct must not be destroyed.

Retention periods

Different retention periods apply to research involving clinical trials, psychological testing or intervention with adults, medical research involving children and so on. Check the Code.