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Guide to Project Data Management

What happens to data after the project?

What happens to the data after the project is finished?

1. Metadata to Laurea Repo Data tab 

Basic data from all Laurea projects is recorded in Laurea's Reportronic project management system, from where the information is transferred to the national Reserch.fi portal as Laurea results. This does not mean that all data should be made public, but only that information about the data generated is exported via Reportronic to the national system as results. Read the instructions here.

2. Final processing and opening of data
Projects generate many types of data that must be processed. No material may be left in the project's storage spaces, so when a project is coming to an end, a decision must be made about what will happen to the material or part of it.

The following options are available for final processing of data:

  1. The data is opened or partially opened.
  2. The data is stored on Laurea's internal network drive.
  3. Non-anonymized data is destroyed when it is no longer needed for publications.

When choosing between these options, it should be noted that Laurea is committed to promoting open RDI activities and, with regard to data, the principle is in line with the European Commission's guidelines: as open as possible, as closed as necessary. 

1. How to publish data?

Laurea's data policy is based on the principle of being as open as possible and as closed as necessary. This means that data is always made available when possible. Data can also be made available in part or with an embargo after a certain protection period.

Data can be made available if the following requirements are met:

  • The data does not contain personal information or it has been anonymized.
  • The data does not contain trade secrets or other classified material.
  • The research subjects have been informed of the availability and further use of the data at the beginning of the study.
  • The matter has been agreed upon with the project partners.

If you open the data, document it so that it can be used even after a long period of time. Please note that in addition to the data itself, you will need the material created during the creation of the data.

Save the following in the same directory as the data as text or PDF files:

  • the documentation of the data, e.g., as a README file
  • the instructions and other documents given to data collectors and processors
  • the writing requests, cover letters
  • the interview questions, questionnaires, interview frameworks.

 

2. Data stored to Laurea internal network drive

Data that is not to be published immediately but is to be retained can be stored in Laurea's own data archive on Laurea's network drive. In this case, it is important to consider what has been communicated to the research subjects regarding the processing of data containing personal information after the project has ended.
 

How to proceed?

  • Describe the project data in Laurea's Reportornic and indicate that the data is located in Laurea's internal data catalog.
  • Indicate the person responsible for the project who can be contacted in the future if the data is made available.
  • Ask Laurea's servicedesk for a space where the data can be stored.

Please note that in addition to the data itself, you will also need the material created during the creation of the data. 

Data repositories to publish data

Finnish data repositories

  • Aila (FSD) Linkki avautuu uuteen ikkunaan
    Aila is the data service portal of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. The portal provides access to an online data catalogue, an online data ordering and download system and a file transfer service for archiving data.
  • Fairdata IDA - Fair storage for fair research data (CSC) Linkki avautuu uuteen ikkunaan
    is a free-of-charge research data storage service offered to Finnish higher education institutions and state research institutes. As part of the Fairdata Services, IDA provides a reliable storage solution for published research dataset data, regardless of the scientific discipline. IDA contact person in Laurea is Minna Marjamaa.

International data reposotories datapalveluja

3. Unanonymized data containing personal data has to be destroyed

If research or development data contains personal information or other confidential information, this data must be destroyed as soon as it is no longer needed, as it poses a data protection risk. For example, when transcribing material, it is often advisable to anonymize it immediately and destroy the recordings.

Destroy the material in the following cases:

  • You have not informed the research subjects in advance about the further use or disclosure of the data.
  • Material containing personal data will not be anonymized. Personal data should not be stored in an unanonymized form.
  • You have not agreed otherwise with your project partners.

The grounds for destroying data are as follows:

  •  If participants have not been informed about the further use or disclosure of the data and no agreement has been made with the project partners, the data cannot be further used or disclosed. This also applies, for example, to direct quotations from the data in a company's marketing material or social media communications.
  • The data contains personal information or other confidential information, such as company information. The data cannot be stored in an unanonymized form, reused, or disclosed.
  • This data must either be anonymized or destroyed, as it poses a data protection risk or a risk of damage to the company's reputation.

 

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