Archive research data

Research data needs to be maintained for a long time and should therefore be long-term stored. There are several reasons for this. There should be an opportunity for transparency in the University’s work and the work should be audited, not least when research is financed by external funds. It should also be possible to research the material in the future. The basic rule for this is preservation and archiving, which means that the information should be kept as long as technically possible in a format suitable for long-term storage. The information should also be searchable. There is no distinction between primary data or processed data, both data types may need to be preserved.

It is possible to delete research data earlier, in consultation with the University’s archive function. There is still a need for research to be reviewed, and thus a minimum period of 13 years. The fact that it is just 13 years is because research projects financed by EU funds may be examined during that time period, the same rules apply to financial documents in a research project. At Mid Sweden University, we have, to facilitate management, the same thinning deadline regardless of whether the research is financed from EU funds or another funding source.

Conservation and thinning at Swedish higher education institutions is regulated by the Archives Act, the Archives Ordinance, and the National Archives Regulations. The National Archives is the archive authority for all government agencies in Sweden and determines what information is to be kept and which information may be deleted.

Data collected or established but never used in research are not covered by these rules but can be deleted when it is established that this data will not be used for research. In cases where the material contains personal data, thinning should take place as soon as possible.

More information on public documents, preservation and thinning can be found on the archives and diarium pages.