Good research data management is an essential part of ethical research practice.

In accordance with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (The 2018 Code) and the ACU Research Data Management Policy, ACU researchers are responsible for maintaining accurate, complete, safe, secure and retrievable records of research approach, sources, data and primary materials.

Ethics approval is required for all research conducted at Australian Catholic University, involving people, personal data, and human tissue, as well as research involving animals.

When applying for ACU Ethics approval consider the processes used to protect research participants, including the steps taken to ensure anonymity of data. The ethics application form will also ask you to indicate how your data will be stored, disseminated and disposed of, after your project is completed.

When you are completing your Research Data Management Plan, you will need to document your ethical decisions concerning the research data you will be collecting.

Data management planning

When preparing your data management plan consider the following questions.

• Does your data management plan meet the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023?
• Does your data management plan consider ACU Human Research Ethics Committee requirements?
• How will you obtain informed consent from your study participants (if applicable)?
• Does your data management plan ensure data is collected, stored and backed up in accordance with relevant security standards?
• What methods will you use to protect the confidentiality of participants and their data during the project and following project completion?

Data collection

Before collecting data from individuals, you will need to have gained informed consent. Respect for participants should be a priority and personal data must never be disclosed unless informed consent is given. Before individuals provide their consent, you should inform them of:

• what data will be collected and what for
• who will have access to their data
• where their data will be stored
• how long that data will be kept
• what will happen to their data after the required storage period.

Include this information in your data management plan.

Consent may be:

(a) ‘specific’: limited to the specific project under consideration;

(b) ‘extended’: given for the use of data in future research projects that are:

(i) an extension of, or closely related to, the original project; or

(ii) in the same general area of research (for example, genealogical, ethnographical, epidemiological, or chronic illness research);

(c) ‘unspecified’: given for the use of data or tissue in any future research.

Publishing data

Re-using, sharing or publishing de-identified data can be beneficial, as long you have obtained informed consent to do so, and you appropriately manage risks to participants’ privacy and confidentiality.

Ensure that your research data is thoroughly de-identified to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants (and their data), in the dissemination of results. De-identification does not just mean removing people's names from a file. It must be done using appropriate methods.

Attach a license to indicate the conditions for data reuse, including what the original consent specified about future use of the data.