Archive, register and protect information

In September 2022 the vice-chancellor adopted a new Policy on the management of and open access to research and environmental monitoring and assessment data at SLU, stating that all new projects in research and environmental monitoring assessment must write a data management plan.

When receiving funding for a new project, the project leader is responsible to:

• fill in a Data Management Plan in DMPonline 
• send the DMP to the department administration (marithe.lindelof@slu.se) for registering, when applying for a new project code.

The purpose is partly to ensure that collected information is handled legally and securely so that it does not disappear or end up in the wrong hands. Partly to facilitate sharing of information that can be disseminated to the public and the research community. This will enable more longitudinal and historical studies in the future.

Disseminating and making research material available is an important democratic issue. Universities have an important role in providing quality assured information that can provide support for new studies, policy decisions and investigations.

The work on managing and preserving research data gives all researchers the opportunity to reflect on issues related to methodology, ethics and information security:

• Have you promised your informants that they should be anonymous? How do you ensure that information about the informants is not spread in ways that can harm them?
• How would your research project be affected by the fact that your computer's hard disk crashes or is exposed to an IT attack so it becomes unusable?
• How would you handle an article you wrote in 2011 being questioned and you need to report and verify raw data and analyzes that are behind your conclusions?
• Could you benefit from a database of raw data from, for example, interviews conducted twenty years ago or historical source material?

Read more about...

» Archive and publish research and environmental assessment data

» Information and archives management

» Data protection and personal data

» Information security

» Good research practice, Swedish Research Council 2017

Practical instructions, quick guides and templates

» Manual for managing research material

• Quick guide: Management of research material (pdf)
• Checklist: Research data - what should be preserved? (pdf)

» Management of digital research records and data at the beginning and in the end of a research project - brief guidelines (pdf)

Data management plan

» Data Management Plan - DMPonline  NEW 2023

» Plan data management

- Can I use Dropbox to share and store data in my project?

No, private accounts on external cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive, are not safe for storing research data since SLU cannot help you with any backups. Use Microsoft One Drive via your SLU account (not for storage of personal data), Sharepoint or a locked folder on Server P or U. Please contact David Halim if you need help with Server P or Sharepoint.

- What do we do when we collaborate with external parties and they suggest or require us to share data and work in a solution that is not on our list of approved tools?

Keep calm and resist. The forms of cooperation should be defined in the agreement with the external party. And the proposed new solution may have to be approved by them as well.

Printed publications are submitted to the administration (Karen Gould Ekström).

Electronic publications are deposited directly in the current folder on the server P:\Till arkivet.