Responsibilities and regulations in research
Research at Mid Sweden University is conducted within the framework of a government agency and is governed by laws and regulations that ensure transparency, ethics and correct handling of information. These regulations apply throughout the research process, from planning to archiving.
Public documents and the principle of public access to official documents
Research conducted at Mid Sweden University is part of the agency's activities. This means that research data are generally public documents.
A document is information that is created or received in the business, such as documents, data files, e-mails, survey responses, recordings or information in databases. A document becomes public when it is stored at the University and has been received by the University or has been prepared here.
Public documents can be requested on the basis of the principle of public access to official documents. Before anything is disclosed, a confidentiality assessment is always carried out in accordance with the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act. It is the law that determines whether the information is public or confidential, nothing is disclosed without such an assessment having been made.
For example, privacy can apply to:
- information about an individual's health or sex life
- psychological test results and other individual examinations
- Personal data in research
- trade secrets or research results that are not yet intended to be disseminated;
- data related to patent applications
If a request concerns research data, you can get support via DAU in making the confidentiality assessment.
Archive responsibility and preservation
As a government agency, Mid Sweden University has a statutory responsibility to preserve, care for and keep its public documents in order. This means that research data must be handled so that they can be preserved or disposed of in accordance with current rules.
How this is done in practice is described on the page Archiving, preserving and deleting research data.
Structured and legally secure research data management is a prerequisite for meeting both archiving requirements and good research practice. The University's research data management policies are based on the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). This means that data must be documented and organized so that it is findable, available under clear conditions, technically and semantically interoperable and possible to reuse.
Some of the benefits of good research data management are that you can easily find and understand your data when you need it in the future, that it becomes easier to validate, share and reuse data, and it improves the visibility and citation rate of research.
Data protection and ethics
Research may also be subject to special requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Ethical Review Act.
Research that involves humans, such as the processing of sensitive personal data, physical interventions or biological material, may require ethical review. The purpose is to ensure the protection of participants as well as legal certainty, integrity and transparency.
How the requirements for ethical review and management according to GDPR should take place in practice are described on the page Ethical review and data protection in research.
Local governing documents
Mid Sweden University has a policy and guidelines for the management of research data. These provide support in meeting legal and ethical requirements and describe roles and responsibilities.
You can find current policy documents, including policies and guidelines for the management of research data, on the page Steering documents for research.
By following the guidelines, you ensure that your research is handled correctly, transparently and in a sustainable manner in the long term.