Version Control

Introduction/Background

Curatio International Foundation (CIF) uses own experience and best practices during creation of this Research Data Management Policy (RDMP). The owner of this RDMP is the Research Unit at CIF. It is mandatory for this RDMP to be reviewed and updated (if needed) on a regular basis. The revision shall take place at least every 2 years. The version control of this document is also a mandatory practice.

Purpose

The Research Data Management Policy describes a set of main principles and rules for the management of data. RDMP includes statement of general principles, definitions, application, description of research data, metadata, Data Management Plan preparation rules, principles of data sharing, access and security and information about author and responsible person to ensure Research Data Management Policy procedures in the proper way.

Statement

Curatio International Foundation acknowledges that in the maintenance of quality of research project the Research Data Management Policy is one of the most important document and all research staff follow this policy document rules. CIF is committed to achieve research data management standards for secure data retention, and to optimizing the benefits of research through collecting, storing and making research data accessible in such a way that it can be used in future by members of the organization and community.

All data collected and stored at CIF is organizations property and all rights on the access and share belongs to CIF.

Research Data Management Policy obliges all research projects to prepare Data Management Plan before the project starts.

Research Unit has permission to provide approval to all Data Management Plans developed in CIF and Principle Investigator (PI) is responsible to prepare the DMP according RDMP of CIF.

CIF is committed to the principles of this RDMP and expects adherence to them.

Data must be recorded as accurately and completely as it is possible. All data should be stored in a secure way and protected way.

Definitions

• Principle Investigator (PI)- The lead researcher of the project
• Researcher: Any person conducting research or involved in the collection, generation or analysis research data
• Research Assistant: A support staff providing assistance to the researchers
• Funder: An agency providing the financial support of the research project
• Data sharing agreement: Is an official document signed by host organization and other parties describing terms of data usage and the specific purpose
• Metadata: Is the data which describes other data.

Application

This policy applies to the research staff of the organization including: Principle Investigators, Researchers, Research Assistants, Interns involved in research activities and Project Manager of the research projects.

Research data

Research data is data collected, observed and analyzed for purpose to produce research results.

Research data may include the following:

• Databases
• Questionares
• Field notebooks
• Standard operating procedures for data collection
• Study protocols
• Contents of an application such as input, output, log files for analysis software
• Audio and video materials
• Photo materials
• Transcripts
• Clinical data, including patient records
• Test responses
• Methodologies and frameworks.

Metadata and documentation

Metadata should include structured and schematized information about research data. It should provide information regarding all type of research data. Metadata should be informative and provide info about research project name, date of data creation, date of last update, type of data and so. The content of metadata should depend on specific requirements of the research project. Metadata should be created manually in an accurate way.

Data Management Plan

A Data Management Plan (DMP) should be produced for all research projects. It should be created before the research project starts and updated or changed only if needs of research or requirements from funder changed significantly, from those captured in the first version.

The DMP must be prepared by the Principle Investigator of the research study and approved by Research Unit Director of the Organization.

The DMP should describe the approach, of how it will be taken to create, manage and share research data. DMP should describe type of study and what type of research data will be collected and what methodologies will be used for data collection. The DMP also should indicate procedures of data managing, storage and security. All DMPs should have responsible person for research Data Management.

Access and share of data

CIF has its’ regulation regarding access and sharing of data.

1. All research staff should have full access to the research data
2. Research data metadata will have an open access
3. Only PI should have permission to share data outside the research team
4. All data which can’t be in the open access will be shared only after signing data sharing agreement, in which the specific purpose of usage should be stated.

Data Security

CIF acknowledges an obligation to ensure appropriate security for all data in its domain of ownership and control. All research data should be stored in a secure way. All research data should be secured on a password protected computers. The data should be stored in the separate protected place. Only research team should have access to the password protected computers and locked separate place.

Contact

All questions regarding CIFs’ Data Management Policy should be directed to the Research Unit at [email protected].