Regulations for the management of research data, results, and software at ACDH-CH
1 Preamble
The Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage (ACDH-CH) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) views Open Access to research data, results, and software in the sense of Open Science1 as an essential prerequisite for scientific integrity and good scientific practice.
Research data is defined as all data that is generated, processed, checked, and approved by scientific expertise as part of research projects. Research results are scientific publications in the broader sense, e.g., articles, books, lectures, but also slide sets for lectures, abstracts or extended abstracts, project websites, project reports, etc.
The ACDH-CH acts in accordance with the EOSC declaration2 and the FAIR principles3 adopted by the European Union, which aim to ensure that data is findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. Reliable and easy-to-find research data is the basis and essential component of most research projects, and its availability is indispensable for the verification and traceability of research processes and research results. Research data are therefore not only important for the duration of the research project in which they are produced, but also represent a lasting value for research, teaching and society. Data should therefore be made accessible for as long as possible within a given legal framework. The ACDH-CH actively promotes making them available as an intrinsic part of all research processes at the institute and if possible, at the OeAW as a whole.
This document was formulated on the basis of the model for research data management policies4 drawn up as part of e-Infrastructures Austria.
2 Scope
The regulations formulated in this document are valid for all ACDH-CH employees, regardless of the type of their contractual relationship, provided that no other OeAW-wide regulations contradict them. If a research project is funded or financed by third parties and the underlying funding contract or research contract contains special provisions regarding ownership, access, and storage of research data, the provisions of the specific contract take precedence over the regulations set out in this document.
The first version of this document was approved by the ACDH-CH Board of Directors on February 12, 2019 and is reviewed every two years to ensure its validity. This second, updated version was adopted on December 21, 2022.
3 Rights Ownership
The ownership of rights is regulated between researchers and employers by the employment contract or other contractual agreements. The collective agreement for employees at the OeAW generally stipulates those rights of use and exploitation of research data and results generated under the employment contract are transferred to the employer5, while the copyright (to attribution) always remains with the authors under Austrian law. Rights to inventions (e.g., software of a technical nature) are governed by the employment contract, collective agreement, patent law, and the OeAW IP strategy6, among others.
For projects with partners outside the ACDH-CH, explicit provisions must be made in a cooperation agreement before work begins to ensure compliance with these regulations in the event of shared or distributed ownership of the rights to the research data generated in the project. In particular, it should be prevented that the open access publication of data generated at or with significant support from the ACDH-CH can be prevented by unilateral decision.
4 Data management planning
All new research projects must be recorded in accordance with the regulations for project administration and project initiation at ACDH-CH. Each project must submit a data management plan (DMP) that can be viewed throughout the institution, which lists the research data to be generated and used. The DMP should also stipulate data collection, management, integrity, confidentiality, storage, exchange, and publication of the data. If the project framework does not specify a particular format for a DMP, the ACDH-CH internal standard DMP should be used, which is part of the institution’s internal standard operating procedures for data management.
Concrete measures that promote the implementation of the FAIR principles should already be taken into account during the planning phase. In particular, any legal restrictions (e.g., copyright) should be identified at the planning stage and efforts should be made to ensure that the data to be produced conforms to current standards so that subsequent provision can be easily realized on the basis of the FAIR principles. In particular, non-proprietary formats with open-source specifications are preferred.
Provided there are no legal reasons to the contrary (e.g., the data protection principle of data minimization, contractual obligations), data produced at the ACDH-CH should be accessible and readable for all members of the institute, even before publication. After approval by the project management (PI), the processing of the data must also be made possible. Deviations from this principle must be approved by institute management and the decisive reasons documented. The direct or indirect transfer of unlicensed data to persons or organizations outside the institute is only permitted after approval by the project management.
The ACDH-CH processes and stores personal research data in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR and national data protection regulations. Employees must also comply with the OeAW Data Protection Guideline (OeAW Guideline on Data Protection of Personal Data7).
5 Publication and archiving
A distinction must be made between research data that is worthy of being archived and research data that is not.
All archivable research data produced at the ACDH-CH must be stored in a trustworthy research data repository and made publicly available. If no more suitable repository (e.g., specialized in a specific discipline) is available, the datasets must be archived in ARCHE–the repository of the ACDH-CH, provided they comply with the ARCHE collection policy8. In collaboration with the ARCHE curation team, the identifiability, findability, interoperability and – where possible – the availability and reusability of the data are ensured.
A time-limited restriction of certain parts of research data produced at the ACDH-CH (embargo) is possible, but must be justified, documented, and approved by the institute management. However, the metadata of such embargoed data must always be publicly accessible.
Research data worthy of archiving must be stored for as long as required by relevant legal or contractual regulations (e.g., of the funding body). If there are no more detailed regulations, a minimum retention period of 10 years is to be assumed, as is also stipulated in the OeAW collective agreement9.
When publishing data, care must be taken to ensure that all persons significantly involved in the creation of the data are listed in the metadata, stating their contribution.
Research data that is not worthy of archiving can be deleted 12 months after the end of a project.
6 Dealing with research results
The ACDH-CH also pursues an aggressive Open Access strategy in the publication of research results.
Research results should preferably be stored in epub10, or in another suitable infrastructure (e.g., https://zenodo.org or other services listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories http://www.opendoar.org) and made available on a long-term basis.
7 Dealing with research software
In addition to research data and project results, the availability of research software used throughout the project is a third key component in the establishment of sustainable research infrastructures. The use of free and open-source software (FOSS) must be given special consideration when selecting software to be used in research projects. If the functionality is equivalent for the respective requirements, the use of FOSS software is preferred in order to enable the widest possible reuse and traceability of the selected working methods. Preference should be given to software that is compatible with free and open data standards, i.e. that can read, process, and output data.
8 Licensing
Provided there are no internal OeAW regulations, third-party rights, legal obligations or special ownership regulations to the contrary, research data or research results must be made openly available (open by default, Gold or Green Open Access11) and licensed as freely as possible.
The recommended license for publications of any kind at the ACDH-CH is CC BY 4.012. The licensing decision of data publications should ideally be made during the project application phase, but in any case during the project duration and with the participation of all project partners.
Provided there are no legal factors (see above) to the contrary and the OeAW-wide IP strategy is taken into account, research software created at ACDH-CH, including its source code, should be published under the permissive MIT license13. The same applies to research software that is funded by the institute or by third-party funds located at ACDH-CH. The project management must ensure that a corresponding clause is included in contracts for work. When choosing the place of publication, care should also be taken to ensure that it can be found and used for as long as possible.
Exceptions to this requirement that cannot be justified on legal grounds are only possible in special cases (e.g., exceptional reputation of the publisher or journal in which a publication is to appear) and must be approved by the institute management.
9 Responsibilities
Overall responsibility for research data management during a research project lies with the project leader (PI). The project management can appoint a data steward from the project team to take over daily operations.
1. The project management or the data steward …
a) … ensures that the management of research data, software, and research results complies with the principles formulated in these regulations;
b) … is responsible for the collection, documentation, storage, use, reuse (of third-party data), accessibility, and preservation or destruction of the research data associated with a project. All tasks and processes performed by the project participants are clearly defined and fulfilled, and that these are recorded in the above-mentioned data management plan, which must be regularly reviewed and updated;
c) … plans the continuous publication of the data and checks their possible usability after the end of the research project through the necessary quality assurance measures. This also includes forward-looking planning for further work such as clarification of data storage and archiving in the event that the PI leaves the research institution and project participants leave the project;
d) … is responsible for ensuring and fulfilling all organizational and regulatory, institutional and other contractual and legal requirements in relation to its research data, as well as for managing the records of its research.
In the case of partner projects that are not managed by ACDH-CH, the external project management commits to the above points in the cooperation agreement.
2. The ACDH-CH …
a) … creates the conditions necessary for the implementation of data management in accordance with these regulations. Depending on the research project in question, this may include the provision and management of the technical infrastructure during the project period (e.g., storage space including regular data backups, hardware, and software), which is operated in close cooperation with the Academy Computer Center (Akademie-Rechenzentrum, ARZ);
b) … is responsible for compliance with best scientific practice and the recognized rules of technology. This is achieved through the communication of standards and regulations, support and monitoring/review through project supervision, taking into account third-party funding contracts for research funding as well as the Academy’s internal statutes, codes of conduct, and other relevant regulations;
c) … provides the “social infrastructure”, i.e. the technical and methodological expertise of employees who support researchers in handling research data. This can take the form of training, advice, and, where appropriate, regulations and/or templates and plans for the management of research data, software, and research results;
d) … ensures the ongoing operation of ARCHE for the storage, backup, registration, and deposit of research data in order to guarantee current or future access to research data during or after the duration of research projects.
e) … provides access to services and facilities for storing and securing research data and records that enable researchers to exercise their rights and obligations under this policy and under contracts with third-party funders and other legal sources.
1 Cf. https://openscience.eu/
2 “They have been endorsed by the undersigning stakeholders, found in the List of Signatories, who also committed to specific actions to implement it (Action List). As such, the *Declaration does not commit the European Commission* and Union institutions.” https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/pdf/eosc_declaration.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none
3 https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618
4 Cf. https://hdl.handle.net/11353/10.459162
5 Cf. Collective Agreement for the Employees of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Version of 1.4.2020, § 10, point 4.
6 Available at https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/intern/oeaweb/institute-und-infrastruktur/knowledge-transfer-office (accessible via the OeAW-internal network or VPN)
7 Available at https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/intern/oeaweb/stabsstelle-recht-und-compliance/data-protection (accessible via the OeAW-internal network or VPN)
8 https://arche.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/browser/collection-policy
9 Cf. Collective Agreement for the Employees of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Version of 1.4.2020, § 10, point 4.
11 The latter two options should only be chosen in consultation with supervisors. If possible, journals should be chosen that allow these forms of free access without the collection of Article Processing Charges (APCs).
12 Cf. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. For reasons see for example https://oaspa.org/why-cc-by.