The checklist provides a summary of relevant information and includes contact information and links to additional information with more detailed descriptions of what to do.
Use the checklist when planning your project
Use the checklist as a reference when planning your research project and revisit it throughout the project. The checklist is divided into four parts for different phases in your project. Begin by reviewing these four parts at the start of the project to plan for the various requirements.
Demonstrating that your research is conducted securely and legally also instils confidence in you as a researcher and in Umeå University as the entity responsible for research.
Why go through the checklist?
There are many rules that must be followed during a research process. In this checklist, we have compiled information to make it easier for researchers to adhere to legislation, regulations and principles that regulate research.
Demonstrating that your research is conducted securely and legally also instils confidence in you as a researcher and in Umeå University as the entity responsible for research.
Revisit the checklist regularly throughout the research project
Different rules and regulations require taking measures that need to be followed throughout the project. Regularly update your documentation and your assessments if the assumptions under which the research project is conducted change.
Note that there may be additional measures that you need to consider in your specific project.
1. Planning and initiating a research project
Part of the checklist covers six areas that need particular attention before beginning a project. Many of the items are general and apply to all research projects. Others are only relevant in specific types of research projects.
Set the stage for your research project
Research requires funding. Funding can be secured by applying for grants.
You are personally responsible for conducting your research according to good research practices. This means that research adheres to applicable laws but also those codes of conduct that apply to different research domains.
Your project may need multiple permits that must be issued before beginning your research. Conducting research without required permits is not good research practice and can result in personal criminal liability.
Funding the research project
Where can you apply for funding?
What requirements do funding organisations make on research and collaboration with others?
Do you need help in formulating an application?
What you should do:
- Contact the Research Support and Collaboration Office.
The Research Support and Collaboration Office can explain and help interpret calls for applications from funding organisations. This includes providing feedback on your application, assisting with certificates and letters of intent, and supporting you in how to use application systems.
More information
Writing an application
Contact
Research Support and Collaboration Office: rso@umu.se
Apply for ethical approval
If your research project involves any of the following:
- invasive procedures on humans or intending to have physical or mental influence on humans;
- biological material from humans;
- sensitive personal data; or
- processing personal data and information about violations of the law.
What you should do:
- Apply for ethical approval from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority.
Researchers have personal criminal liability if they conduct research requiring ethical approval without first obtaining such an approval. As the entity responsible for research, Umeå University has an organisational responsibility to take measures for ensuring adherence to laws and to prevent research in contravention to any terms issued with an ethical approval.
More information
Ethical approval – An explanation, Swedish Ethical Review Authority (in Swedish)
Ethics in research
Contact
Research Support and Collaboration Office: rso@umu.se
Apply for ethical approval of animal experiments
Will you perform animal experiments in your research?
What you should do:
- Apply for ethical approval of animal experiments from the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
More information
Application for ethical approval of animal experiments – jorbruksverket.se (in Swedish)
Ethics in research
Policy for research on animals
Contact
Research Support and Collaboration Office: rso@umu.se
Strategic products or dual-use products
Do you believe the project will or may involve strategic products or dual-use products?
What you should do:
- Take necessary precautions.
- When required, apply for an export permit from the Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) or the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM).
Advances in technology are increasingly important for the military capabilities of countries. Acquiring the right technologies is a priority for countries striving to become global superpowers. Many countries actively strive to obtain knowledge and technology illegally. This often involves dual-use technologies that can be designed for civilian uses while also capable of being used for military purposes by foreign powers.
More information
These pages discuss types of research covered by legislation on strategic and dual-use products and provide other information.
Dual-use products
Procedures for strategic products
Contact
The security coordinator at the Property Management Office: jacob.eriksson@umu.se
Manage genetic resources and traditional knowledge related to genetic resources – The Nagoya Protocol
Will your research use genetic resources and traditional knowledge related to genetic resources?
What you should do:
- Consider the international Nagoya Protocol.
The Nagoya Protocol ensures that the country where resources are taken from benefit and profit from their use.
Within the EU, the Nagoya Protocol is applied through the EU's ABS regulation. An example of traditional knowledge of genetic resources would be knowledge about a plant curing specific diseases.
More information
Ethics in research
Genetic resources, Nagoya Protocol (naturvardsverket.se)
Contact
Laboratory biosafety expert: jan.l.olsson@umu.se
Conduct a risk assessment of laboratory activities
Does your research project involve laboratory activities?
Does your research project involve changing how work at the laboratory takes place?
What you should do:
- Conduct a risk assessment.
- Conduct a new risk assessment if activities change.
The assessment of laboratory activities is a work environment issue. The head of department has ultimate responsibility for the work environment. You need to understand what rules apply regarding the environment, work environment, radiation safety and laboratory biosafety. You also need to investigare whether permits are required for the project's laboratory activities.
Contact
Chemical expert: per.liljelind@umu.se
Radiation safety expert: pia.grahn@umu.se
Laboratory biosafety expert: jan.l.olsson@umu.se
Other permits and procedures
Will the project handle chemicals, pharmaceuticals, narcotic substances, hazardous goods or other materials requiring permits or special procedures?
Will the research project handle substances that can cause cancer or allergies?
Do you need to purchase these types of products or materials?
What you should do:
- Ensure that necessary permits are in place and, when needed, apply for permits.
You may also need to conduct a risk assessment and establish procedures as per the regulations applying to the type of material being handled.
More information
Safety
Contact
Chemical expert: per.liljelind@umu.se
Radiation safety expert: pia.grahn@umu.se
Laboratory biosafety expert: jan.l.olsson@umu.se
Securely manage information
Before beginning your research project, you need to ensure that you manage your information assets securely. This is done to prevent the loss, corruption or leaking of information, regardless of whether the information is managed electronically, physically or in discussions among colleagues. Information assets are anything that includes information, such as research data in systems, raw data from questionnaires, results from analyses, personal data, software, physical assets, human assets and intangible assets.
Good protection of information involves procedures for processing, physical measures and protection in the form of technical solutions. Protection needs to differ depending on the type of information and vary depending on the situation. Classification of information is fundamental for identifying the right level of protection, and a risk and vulnerability analysis identifies what measures are needed to protect the information.
Acquaint yourself with your data – perform an information classification
How do you securely manage your research data?
How do you know which IT system is sufficiently secure to use?
What you should do:
- Perform an information classification.
- Update your information classification as changes to the project arise.
Performing an information classification of the information you will collect and analyse in your project allows you to better understand your research data and how it is managed securely.
The information classification combined with the risk and vulnerability analysis provides guidance on what protective measures are needed and what systems are appropriate for collecting and storing data, for example. These documents also serve as the basis for your data management plan.
Information is to be classified based on its function and importance for your project and the consequences of managing it incorrectly, losing it, having it leaked to unauthorised parties, etc.
The information classification page provides templates adapted for research projects, with predefined examples and classifications. Log into Aurora to access these templates.
Update your information classification if new conditions arise as the project progresses, such as new types of data needing to be collected or if the conditions for, e.g., pseudonymisation of personal data change.
More information
Information security
IT security
Risk analysis
Contact
Questions about information classification or information security: infosak@umu.se
Manage risks for your data – conduct a risk and vulnerability analysis
What risks are there for research data in your project?
How can you minimise or avoid these risks?
What you should do:
- Conduct a risk and vulnerability analysis.
- Update your risk and vulnerability analysis as the conditions for the project change.
A risk and vulnerability analysis allows you to better visual different types of potential risks when processing information based on their likelihood and their potential consequences on the work being performed and the organisation. This analysis allows you to identify ways of minimising or completely avoiding risks.
The risk analysis page has templates adapted for research projects, with predefined examples of risks and measures. Log into Aurora to access these templates.
Update your risk and vulnerability analysis if new conditions arise as the research project progresses, such as new types of data needing to be collected or if the conditions for pseudonymisation of personal data change, for instance.
More information
Information security
IT security
Risk analysis
Contact
Questions about risk and vulnerability analysis or information security: infosak@umu.se
Determine appropriate IT support
Which IT system is secure enough for your project?
What you should do:
- Choose an IT system that is approved to process the information with the highest level of protection according to the project's information classification and risk and vulnerability analysis.
Using the information classification and risk and vulnerability analysis, you can decide which IT support is suitable for storage, data collection, and processing and sharing of research data in your research project, along with other decisions. Choose solutions that are approved for the highest level of protection that the information requires. When possible, choose a system that is recommended by the University centrally or that your department recommends.
Consider the following when choosing an IT system to manage your information:
- If you manage information that is subject to confidentiality, choose an IT system that stores the information locally at the University.
- If you process personal data, the type of personal data determines the requirements for the IT system.
- If you manage classified information, contact the security coordinator at the Property Management Office to find out how you are allowed to manage this type of information.
More information
File storage and documents
Contact
Servicedesk
Structure the project files in a suitable folder hierarchy
How will you handle research documents during and after the research project?
How will others navigate among your documents?
For example, you should:
- Create a folder structure to manage your files.
- Keep administrative documents separate from research data.
- If you manage code keys for pseudonymised data, these must be stored in a different location from the personal data.
Make sure the hierarchy is described and that it is clear where you store different types of information. To facilitate management of your research documents both during and after the end of the project, choose an appropriate hierarchy for organising the project's files that is logical for both yourself and others.
More information
File storage and documents
Recommended template for folder hierarchy
Contact
Servicedesk
Plan for proper management of administrative documents and registration
Which documents are to be registered and when?
What you should do:
- Contact the archive coordinator at the department to review how the project is to register administrative documents.
More information
Each department manages its archive and registry according to its own procedures.
Draw up a data management plan
Does the research funding body require you to have a data management plan?
Where do you store information about the project's data management?
What you should do:
- Establish a data management plan.
- Update the data management plan regularly during the project.
Umeå University recommends that you create a data management plan before starting the project. Many research funding bodies also require that you have a data management plan.
The goal of the data management plan is to collect information about the data created or collected by the project in a single location. The information classification and the results of the risk and vulnerability analysis are used to describe data management in the data management plan.
More information
Research data policy
The University Library's guidance on research data management
Contact
University Library research data group
Processing personal data
Each piece of information that can be linked directly or indirectly to a living individual is personal data. This means that pseudonymised information is personal data as long as a code key exists. If you will be processing personal data as part of your research project, you need to ensure that processing occurs in accordance with the provisions of GDPR. This includes having requirements for notification of personal data processing and providing information to data subjects.
Ensure you are allowed to process personal data
Will you process personal data in the project?
Will you conduct research on sensitive personal data or personal data concerning violations of the law?
What you should do:
- Limit the personal data you collect to the data necessary for the purpose.
- Store personal data in approved systems.
- If needed, apply for ethical review approval.
Normally, processing personal data in research is lawful as it is a task carried out in the public interest. This means that you do not need a separate consent for personal data processing. Always ensure that you process the personal data according to GDPR basic principles.
If you conduct research on sensitive personal data or personal data concerning violations of the law, you must apply for ethical review approval.
More information
FAQ on personal data management
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Report processing of personal data
Will the research project process personal data?
What you should do:
- Report the processing of personal data to the University's central register before the processing begins.
Umeå University is the personal data controller for the personal data being processed. The University is required to keep a register of the personal data processing occurring within the organisation. Before beginning a research project where you will process personal data, you are required to report your personal data processing to the University's central register.
More information
Reporting personal data processing
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Impact assessment of personal data processing
Does the research project pose a high risk to the privacy of individuals?
Will the research project process a large amount of sensitive personal data?
Will registry data from multiple data subjects be combined in a way that the data subjects could not have expected?
Will the research project deal with a large amount of data on children, employees, asylum seekers, older adults and patients, or other disadvantaged groups?
If so, you should:
- Conduct an impact assessment of the personal data processing.
More information
Personal data processing in research
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Manage confidential information
Information that you collect and information that you request from others, such as public authorities or a regional health authority, may include information that is subject to confidentiality. You have a duty of confidentiality if in your work you are given access to information covered by confidentiality. This means that you have a personal criminal liability and may not disclose confidential information to anyone not authorised to access the information. This duty of confidentiality also applies to your colleagues and collaborative partners.
You have a duty of confidentiality
Do you handle confidential information in your research project?
What you should do:
- Manage the information so that unauthorised individuals do not gain access to it.
More information
Public documents and confidentiality
Guide to public access to information and confidentiality (in Swedish)
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: universitetsjurist@umu.se
Sharing confidential information
Do you collaborate with someone outside Umeå University?
Do you need to share research data with a supplier?
What you should do:
- Conduct a confidentiality assessment before sharing the information.
- Contact the Legal Affairs Office if you are unsure whether the information is covered by confidentiality or if statistical confidentiality applies as per Chapter 24, Section 8 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
In some cases, information covered by confidentiality can be shared with other Swedish authorities by transferring the confidentiality to them.
If you collaborate with partners at companies, non-profit organisations and the like in Sweden, the information may in some cases be disclosed subject to a confidentiality clause.
When collaborating with research partners in other countries, confidentiality cannot be transferred. When working with a collaborator in another country, use the confidentiality review to decide whether other measures can be taken to allow sharing the data without harming the person to whom the information relates.
More information
Guide for sharing research data in research collaborations
Public documents
Guide to public access to information and confidentiality (in Swedish)
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: universitetsjurist@umu.se
Managing classified data
Might the research project process classified data?
Measures you need to take include:
- Take measures that increase security.
- Ensure that individuals handling the information have security clearance.
- Contact the security coordinator at the Property Management Office for support.
There are separate requirements for security-enhancing measures, including that individuals handling the information need to have security clearance when handling classified information. The security coordinator at the Property Management Office can help you determine which measures you need to take.
Protective security involves protecting the information and operations that are important to Sweden's security (as well as binding international commitments on security) from espionage, sabotage, terrorism and other crimes that could threaten the organisation. This can involve protecting research data related to defence activities or activities important to society, which, if in the wrong hands (for instance a foreign power) could have consequences for Sweden's security or cause significant damage to society.
More information
Safety and security in research
Contact
Security coordinator at the Property Management Office: jacob.eriksson@umu.se
Procure goods or services
As a public authority, Umeå University needs to comply with the Public Procurement Act. If you need to purchase a product or service, such as services from a laboratory, a transcription service, or IT support, contact the Procurement and Purchase Office well in advance.
Find out whether there are framework agreements or contracts
Do you need to purchase goods, such as materials and systems, or services, such as a consultancy service?
What you should do:
- Start by finding out whether there are valid framework agreements or contracts in place for the goods or service.
All of the University's framework agreements and contracts can be found in the University's agreement database.
More information
Purchase of products and services
Umeå University's Agreement Database
Contact
Procurement and Purchase Office: upphandling@umu.se
No suitable framework agreement or contract available
Are there no framework agreements or contracts for the product or service you need?
What you should do:
- Consult with the Procurement and Purchase Office about your planned purchase.
Depending on the value and scope of and funding for the purchase, direct award of a contract or an advertised procurement of a contract or framework agreement may be relevant.
More information
Purchase of products and services
Umeå University's Agreement Database
Contact
Procurement and Purchase Office: upphandling@umu.se
Procurement of IT systems or cloud services
Do you need an IT system or cloud service for managing research data?
What you should do:
- When possible, choose the IT systems and services recommended by the University centrally or by your department.
Do you need an IT system or a cloud service that is not available at the University?
What you should do:
- Request that the support team for procurement of IT services and cloud solutions conduct a review of needs and risks from operational, legal, technical, financial and security perspectives before starting the procurement.
- Draw up a retainment plan for the system.
Follow the process described in the instructions for acquiring IT systems and cloud services.
Retainment plan
When first acquiring an IT system or a cloud service, draw up a retainment plan that describes how information in the system should be retained or disposed of.
More information
Instructions for procurement of IT systems or cloud services at Umeå University (in Swedish)
Retainment of electronic documents in systems (in Swedish)
Contact
The support team for procurement of IT services and cloud solutions is contacted via Servicedesk
Registry and Archives: registrator@umu.se
2. Conducting the research
Part two of the checklist has five areas that often become relevant while conducting research. Remember that even before the project starts, you may need to plan how to handle these issues. Many of the items are general and apply to all research projects. Others are only relevant in specific types of research projects.
Processing personal data
Each piece of information that can be linked directly or indirectly to a living individual is personal data. If you will be processing personal data as part of your research project, you need to ensure that processing occurs in accordance with the provisions of GDPR. This includes requirements for providing information to the data subjects.
Inform the data subjects
Will you be processing personal data in your research project?
What you should do:
- Inform the individuals whose personal data you are processing.
Note that this requirement to provide information is different from any similar requirements resulting from ethical approvals. The page describing the rights of data subjects provides a template for research subject information that incorporates both GDPR requirements for providing information and the requirements of the Ethical Review Act.
More information
Rights of data subjects
FAQ on personal data management
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Hire a personal data processor
Do you need to hire someone to perform a service where personal data is processed, such as a laboratory or a transcription service?
Then you need to:
- Contact the Legal Affairs Office for help drawing up a data processing agreement (DPA).
A personal data processing agreement is needed when someone processes personal data on behalf of the personal data controller and according to the controller's instructions.
More information
Personal data processing in research
FAQ on personal data management
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Report incidents involving personal data
Have your systems been attacked by hackers where personal data was stolen?
Have you lost a mobile phone?
Can you access personal data for which you are not authorised?
Has an email containing personal information been sent to the wrong person?
What you should do:
A personal data breach is a security incident that can put an individual's freedoms and rights at risk. All employees who become aware of a suspected personal data breach are required to report this immediately.
Submit reports to abuse@umu.se.
More information
Personal data breach
FAQ on personal data management
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
Report personal data breaches: abuse@umu.se
Request public documents
Many research projects use public documents from other authorities in their research.
Accessing public documents
Does the project need access to public documents, such as health data or clinical data from a regional health authority or a public authority?
What you should do:
- Contact the regional health authority or the public authority that has the information well in advance and ensure that they are permitted to release the information.
- Find out whether the information you receive is subject to transferred confidentiality.
It is common for documents provided to the University to be subject to the same confidentiality as that of the issuing organisation, known as transferred confidentiality. In such cases, the same confidentiality applies to the data at Umeå University as at the disclosing organisation.
More information
Public documents
Access to patient data for researchers – Region Västerbotten (in Swedish)
Collaborating
If your research project involves collaboration with researchers at other universities or with companies, you need to plan for collaborative contracts, sharing of information and so on.
Collaborative contracts
Have you received a draft contract from a collaborator?
Does a collaborative contract need to be drawn up?
What you should do:
- Fill out the Contract review form and submit it together with relevant information to the Legal Affairs Office well in advance.
- Ensure that contracts are signed by an authorised person per the delegation of authority.
If you are going to collaborate with researchers from other organisations, contracts should be signed between the parties. Contracts should be reviewed by the Legal Affairs Office. Contracts often need to be reviewed multiple times after revisions by the parties, so contact the Legal Affairs Office well in advance.
Contracts mean that the parties assume certain obligations and risks. For this reason, the University is always the party to a collaborative contract and not individual researchers.
More information
Agreements and contracts
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: universitetsjurist@umu.se
Share information, materials and data with collaborators
Do you need to share research data, materials or other information with your collaborators?
Will you receive material or data from someone else?
What you should do:
- Perform a confidentiality assessment.
- Investigate whether an agreement is needed for sharing materials.
- Ensure that the sharing of research data with personal data adheres to GDPR requirements.
- Contact the Legal Affairs Office if you are unsure whether your research data is covered by confidentiality or if statistical confidentiality applies as per Chapter 24, Section 8 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
Follow the steps in Guide for sharing research data in research collaborations.
Agreements regulate how the information or material may be used. Data shared with another authority usually do not need to be regulated by an agreement. When sharing material, agreements may also be needed when cooperating with other authorities.
A confidentiality review means that examining whether there are confidentiality regulations that prevent all or some data from being shared with the collaborator. A confidentiality review must be performed before data are shared. You also need to be aware of whether Umeå University has received data with transferred confidentiality from another authority.
GDPR does not include confidentiality regulations, but it does require security measures to protect the personal privacy of data subjects. This means you need to ensure that these requirements are met before data are shared.
More information
Agreements and contracts
FAQ on personal data management
FAQ on public documents and confidentiality
Confidentiality and professional secrecy
Contact
Legal Affairs Office, general legal matters: universitetsjurist@umu.se
Legal Affairs Office, questions regarding personal data and data protection: pulo@umu.se
Collaborating internationally
Do you have contacts with companies or universities in other countries? Then you need to ensure that your research data are handled correctly when having contact with them.
Transferring personal data to countries outside the EU/EEA
Are you going to share research data that contain personal data with partners in countries outside the EU/EEA?
What you should do:
- Conduct an impact assessment before sharing the research data.
- Contact a data protection officer for consultation on the impact assessment.
A data impact assessment analyses whether this type of transfer is reasonable. You should consult with the Data Protection Officer when conducting the data impact assessment.
More information
Transfer of personal data abroad
FAQ on personal data management
Contact
Legal Affairs Office; pulo@umu.se
Manage confidential information
Sharing of research data is a natural part of research. If the research data includes information that is confidential, you need to ensure that it is handled correctly.
Sharing of confidential information as part of a collaboration
Are you going to collaborate with someone outside of Umeå University in a research project where there is confidential information?
What you should do:
- Conduct a confidentiality assessment before sharing research data.
- Share research data in such a way that the data are no longer subject to confidentiality.
- Contact the Legal Affairs Office if you are unsure whether the data is covered by confidentiality or if statistical confidentiality applies as per Chapter 24, Section 8 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
Follow the steps in Guide for sharing research data in research collaborations.
It is not permitted to transfer confidentiality or disclose confidential information with confidentiality clauses to collaborators outside of Sweden. As such, examine how you can share research data without causing harm or loss to the person to whom the data relates.
You may need to investigate:
- whether the data is pseudonymised;
- whether the data can be disclosed in such a way that it cannot be linked to a specific person;
- whether the recipient has ethical review approval; and
- whether there is an agreement with the collaborator that regulates confidentiality, known as contractual confidentiality.
More information
Transfer of personal data abroad
FAQ on personal data management
Guide for sharing research data in research collaborations
Contact
Legal Affairs Office: pulo@umu.se
3. Publishing and making accessible
Part three of the checklist covers three areas that often become relevant in connection with publication and making research findings and research data accessible. Remember that even before the project starts, you may need to plan how to handle these issues. Many of the items are general and apply to all research projects. Others are only relevant in specific types of research projects.
Publish using open access
Does the funding body have requirements about open access publishing?
Does the journal you selected charge an APC (article processing charge)?
Will you publish a monograph that requires open access?
If so, you should:
- Check that the journal or publisher you are submitting the publication to meets any requirements.
- Investigate the potential for funding and plan for funding the publishing.
Umeå University recommends its researchers to publish their research findings using open access whenever possible. If this is not done, a full-text copy should be published openly available in DiVA, known as self-archiving.
The University has several publishing agreements allowing researchers to publish with open access free of charge. Otherwise, the cost of publishing needs to be included in the research project funding.
More information
Umeå University Library's open access publishing agreements
Search for the journals included in open access agreements
The library's course on Creative Commons licenses (in Swedish)
Check the quality of publishers
Contact
Umeå University Library
Making research data accessible
Does a journal or another researcher want to share data or other information from your research project?
Do you want to share research data in a repository?
What you should do:
- Conduct a confidentiality review.
- Confirm how you are allowed to share documents that include personal data.
- Review the terms of the repository.
- Contact the Legal Affairs Office if you are unsure whether the data is covered by confidentiality or if statistical confidentiality applies as per Chapter 24, Section 8 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act.
Research data are public documents that must be disclosed on request unless confidentiality regulations prevent disclosure.
Sometimes journals want access to research data to publish your article. If so, you can create a catalogue entry in, such as SND's catalogue system Doris, which then gives you a DOI link that you can send to the journal to publish together with your article. Research data containing personal data may not be published in repositories. If the research data cannot be shared directly for confidentiality reasons or because it contains personal data, you can share metadata to facilitate research data searches. If someone then wants to review the research data, they can contact the University, which assesses whether the data can be released.
The documentation you have produced during the research project, such as the information classification and data management plan, help you determine how you may share your research data. If you are still unsure about how research data may be shared, contact the Legal Affairs Office.
Always read the terms of the repository. Choose a repository that does not limit the use of research data in new projects. Choose an open access license that ensures that the data you share remains as open as you want. Some repositories charge a fee for you to publish data with them.
Umeå University is responsible for saving your data for at least ten years after the end of the research project. In some cases, research data must be retained indefinitely. Publishing a catalogue entry or posting data in a repository is in addition to archiving or long-term retention of research data at the University. As such, ensure that research data has long-term retention or archiving at the University. Contact your department's archive manager for more information about how long-term retention and archiving is handled at your department.
More information
FAQ on personal data management
FAQ on public documents and confidentiality
Confidentiality and professional secrecy
Contact
Legal Affairs Office, general legal questions: universitetsjurist@umu.se
Legal Affairs Office, questions regarding personal data and data protection: pulo@umu.se
The University Library's research data team
Protect your research findings
Have you made a discovery that you can commercialise?
Have you developed a patentable solution?
Do you want to protect your findings?
What you should do:
- Wait to publish your findings in a scholarly journal.
- Contact the Innovation Office or Umeå University Holding AB.
Teaching staff at the University own the right to their patentable findings. Copyright applies automatically without having to do anything special, but other intellectual property protections, such as patents, may need to be applied for or registered.
To be able to patent an invention, it may not be known before the application for a patent is submitted. As such, you need to wait to publish your results until you have decided what is required to protect your finding.
More information
Protecting and commercialising your findings
Patents, copyrights and more
The Innovation Office at Umeå University
Contact
The Innovation Office at Umeå University: info@umuholding.se
4. Concluding a research project
Part four of the checklist covers an area that often becomes relevant in connection with the conclusion of a research project. Remember that even before the project starts, you may need to plan how to handle these issues. Many of the items are general and apply to all research projects. Others are only relevant in specific types of research projects.
Archive or dispose of your information
What will happen to the project's information at its conclusion?
What you should do:
- From the start, plan for what will happen to your project's information at its conclusion.
- Structure and present the material in an understandable way.
- Delete documents that have not been used in your research project if they are no longer needed to understand your selection criteria.
Research materials that are public documents must either be disposed of after a certain period or archived to be retained for the future.
The head of department decides whether research data should be archived or whether it should be disposed of after a specific number of years. Criteria for retention and disposal are based on Umeå University's retention and deletion plan. Material that does not need to be archived is to be saved in a place that is accessible even when you can no longer be involved in retrieving it. Material to be archived is to be stored in the department's archive. You also need to use file formats that are of archive quality whenever possible. Contact the archive coordinator well in advance of the end of the project to prepare for retention and archiving.
More information
Public documents
Archiving research material
Disposal of research data
Contact
Begin by contacting the archive coordinator at your department.
Registry and Archives: registrator@umu.se