MRC policy on data sharing and preservation
Our policy builds on the central principles of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its report “Promoting Access to Public Research Data for Scientific, Economic and Social Development”. These are that publicly-funded research data are a public good, produced in the public interest, and that they should be openly available to the maximum extent possible.
Key principles of our policy
The central principles of the OECD’s report are recognised by the world’s leading scientific organisations, which impose very limited restrictions on access to publicly-funded data. Those that exist are to protect national security, confidentiality and privacy, intellectual property rights and time-limited exclusive use by data creators. The OECD report concludes that widespread data sharing will enable researchers, empower citizens and convey tremendous scientific, economic, and social benefits. The MRC supports this view.
Our data sharing and preservation policy applies to all MRC-funded research. It does not prescribe when or how researchers should preserve and share data, but requires them to make clear provision for doing so when planning and executing their research.
Policy statement
The MRC expects valuable data arising from MRC-funded research to be made available to the scientific community with as few restrictions as possible. Such data must be shared in a timely and responsible manner.
The MRC believes that data sharers should receive full and appropriate recognition by funders, their academic institutions and new users for promoting secondary research.
New studies that result from this data sharing should meet the high standards of all MRC research regarding scientific quality, ethical requirements and value for money; it should also add recognisable value to the original dataset.
Such research is often most fruitful when it is a collaboration between the new user and the original data creators or curators, with the responsibilities and rights of all parties agreed at the outset.
Data arising from MRC-funded research must be properly curated throughout its life-cycle and released with the appropriate high-quality metadata. This is the responsibility of the data custodians, who are usually those individuals or institutes that received MRC funding to create or collect the data.
A limited, defined period of exclusive use of data for primary research is reasonable, according to the nature and value of the data and the way they are generated and used. Ongoing research contributing to the completion of datasets must not be compromised by premature or opportunistic sharing and analysis. Sharing should always take account of enhancing the long-term value of the data.
MRC policy is not intended to discourage filing of patent applications in advance of publication, and recognises that it may be necessary on occasion to delay publication for a short period to allow time for applications to be drafted.
For medical research involving personal data, the appropriate regulatory permissions – ethical, legal and institutional – must be in place before the data can be shared.
Researchers, research participants and research regulators must ensure that, within the regulatory requirements of the law, opportunities for new uses are maximised. Potential research benefits to patients and the public should outweigh identified risks. Risks such as inappropriate disclosure of personal information must be managed in a proportionate yet robust manner – see the MRC guidelines Personal Information in Medical Research.
Additional information regarding funding proposals
From 1 January 2006 all funding proposals must include a strategy for data preservation and sharing in the case for support, within as a separate section entitled ‘Data sharing and preservation strategy’.
Any applicants who consider that the data arising from their proposals will not be suitable for sharing must provide clear reasons for not making it available.
The level of detail given in the strategy statement should reflect the nature, scale and cost of this aspect of the proposal. It must be succinct and include a summary of:
- Type(s) of qualitative or quantitative data that will be generated e.g. interview transcripts, questionnaires, experimental measurements, recordings and images.
- Further intended and/or foreseeable research uses for the completed dataset(s).
- Plans for preparing and documenting data for preservation for sharing.
Applicants requesting funds to extend existing data sets should also explain:
- The distinctive added value that the new data would provide in relation to existing studies, databases or datasets in the same field.
- How sharing the data would provide opportunities for coordination or collaboration.
Examples:
For laboratory-based, non-clinical research where primary data will be published shortly after its completion, the strategy should address the above points and provide timelines. Where possible, published results should include links to the associated data. Investigators must show how data will be preserved and their strategies for sharing, e.g. by depositing it in a community database. Any exceptional arrangements to protect intellectual property should be summarised.
For patient and population-based work, such as clinical research or trial, cohort and longitudinal studies, applicants must also summarise the arrangements for governance of data collection and usage: management of consent, confidentiality, ethical and legal considerations and access rights.
