Share and archive

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 advises researchers to retain clear, accurate, secure and complete records of all research, including research data and primary materials. It encourages the sharing and dissemination of research findings responsibly, accurately and broadly.

The ARC encourages researchers to deposit data arising from research projects in publicly accessible repositories. This reflects a growing focus on open access to data generated through publicly funded research in Australian and international research policy and practice.

Follow FAIR data principles to maximise the potential of your data:

Assign a persistent identifier ( DOI ) and rich metadata to describe your data, ensuring it is findable via platforms such as, Research Data Australia.
Use recommended file formats, language vocabularies, metadata and identifiers to ensure interoperability with machine-readable research management systems.
Describe and license data—use licences that protect copyright and allow the data to be reused with attribution.

Benefits of sharing research data

Publish your data to:

increase the visibility, reach and impact of your research
preserve your research
ensure it can be accessed and cited in the future
comply with Griffith University policies and funding requirements
allow others to replicate your research.

Explore examples of open data

Before depositing and publishing your data consider:

commercial ownership obligations
copyright and intellectual property
ethical requirements, including privacy and confidentiality
sustainable file formats for long term access and preservation
recommended standards for documentation and description
assigning a licence outlining re-use rights.

When conducting human research, familiarise yourself with the Research ethics manual, including:

#23 Regulatory and ethical issues in human research (PDF 1.8Mb)

Deposit final state research data using trusted repositories that support long term FAIR data access including:

Griffith Research Online (GRO)—Griffith research data supporting publisher or funder requirements
Zenodo—research data and code
Australian Data Archive—qualitative and HASS data
Figshare—research data and images
re3data.org—search for discipline-based repositories.

Contact the library for guidance with research data submission.

Check if your Research Agreement recommends you use a particular licence.
- Griffith recommends attaching a CC BY or CC BY NC Creative Commons licence where possible when publishing data.
Consider publishing an abstract and attaching a restricted access licence for sensitive data.
Griffith recommends a BSD 3-Clause licence where possible for software published with data.

Learn more about research data copyright

Data citation

Data citation provides a reference for datasets in the same way that bibliographic references do for research outputs such as journal articles, books or conference papers. Citing data acknowledges it as a primary research output.

Find examples of how to cite data using different styles.

Choose a style

Data retention

When leaving Griffith:

make plans for the data you are taking with you
nominate a custodian, for example, your Head of School, for the data you are leaving.

Read the Schedule of Retention Periods for Research Data and Primary Materials for guidance on how long to keep your data and primary materials.

It reflects the minimum periods outlined in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018).

In the context of this Schedule, research data are defined as:

factual records, which may take the form of numbers, symbols, text, images or sounds, used as primary sources for research, and that are commonly accepted in the research community as necessary to validate research findings.