This policy applies to all members of the Brown community including, but not limited to, faculty, staff, students, visiting scholars, and postdoctoral fellows, and any other persons at Brown involved in the creation, acquisition, access, use, management, sharing, retention, and destruction of Research Data and Research Materials at or on behalf of Brown; and

Regardless of the source of support for the research project/activity and therefore does not distinguish between funded and unfunded efforts, except where specific sponsor requirements prevail.

The Vice President for Research (VPR) has final authority for compliance with this Policy and is responsible for its implementation. Consistent with this responsibility, the VPR has delegated authority to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) to serve as the subject matter expert and contact for questions about interpretation and implementation of this Policy.

Brown maintains ownership of Research Data and Research Materials for projects conducted at the University, under the auspices of the University, or otherwise with University resources. Brown ownership applies in all cases except where explicitly precluded by the specific terms of sponsorship or other agreement. 

When they leave Brown, Principal Investigators (PIs) have the right to access and in most cases may take copies of Research Data that they generated while at Brown. Other co-investigators involved in the creation of Research Data may access and take copies of Research Data for projects, or the portions of projects, on which they have worked. Students and postdoctoral trainees must receive permission from their PIs before making copies of any Research Data they generated while at Brown before leaving the University and are expected to make such copies prior to leaving Brown. All researchers must comply with the Brown University Data Use Agreement Guidance for Researchers, including the requirements for outgoing Data Use Agreements (DUAs). Brown researchers are encouraged to contact the Brown University Library for assistance to generate high-quality copies of physical Research Data.

Physical laboratory notebooks may not be taken from Brown by any party departing the University except in exceptional circumstances approved in writing by the VPR. In the case of Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs), the departing laboratory member must transfer ownership of the ELN to the PI. The PI is responsible for ensuring that access to the ELN by the departing laboratory member is discontinued on the last day of the laboratory member’s appointment or employment. The departing laboratory member is permitted to make a copy of the ELN; the original must remain at Brown.

Access to Research Materials may be restricted or otherwise limited; nonetheless, the University remains committed to providing appropriate access to Research Materials as needed to further work initiated at the University.

Proper data stewardship is expected of all Brown researchers and personnel. Responsibilities are detailed below.

Ensuring appropriate protection of Research Data and Research Materials is a fundamental responsibility of all members of the Brown research community and others who may have access to Research Data and Research Materials. In some instances, the obligation to protect access to Research Data is rooted in a commitment to integrity (i.e., not breaching the trust of collaborators when results are not yet published), whereas on other occasions ensuring the security of Research Data is governed by commitments made to human subjects, other data providers or data sources (through contracts and agreements), or federal laws and regulations (i.e., export control laws). Brown’s Computing and Information Services (CIS) has established a risk-based approach to categorizing data at Brown, including Research Data, as described in its standards based on risk classification.

Increasingly, academic societies, publishers, and funders are requiring that protocols, data sets, metadata, and code underlying researchers’ published results be retained and preserved, their locations be cited within publications, and they be shared with other researchers and the public online. Brown encourages the responsible sharing of Research Data in accordance with its mission and in furtherance of its commitment to transparency, accountability, and reproducibility in research.

When sharing Research Data or Research Materials, researchers must follow established University procedures to ensure stipulations regarding re-use of the Research Data or Research Materials are documented. In some instances, sharing data external to Brown may require a Data Use Agreement, whereas sharing of Research Materials may necessitate execution of a Material Transfer Agreement. 

Brown recommends that researchers submit data to an established digital archive or repository whenever possible and offers the Brown Digital Repository (BDR) as an option to meet researchers’ needs for retaining digital copies of their data and laboratory notebooks and/or as a complementary option for local access to data deposited in external or national repositories. The deposits in the BDR endeavor to align with FAIR Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for making data machine-actionable. While personal or lab websites, ELNs, wikis, and similar tools may be sufficient for the short term, Brown does not recommend them as long-term data retention or sharing solutions.

Research Data and Research Materials that are commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings must be retained by Brown researchers for three (3) years after publication of the findings, and/or three (3) years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report to a sponsor, whichever event is later, unless a longer period is provisioned. 

The following circumstances may require a longer period of retention:

• Research Data must be kept as long as necessary to preserve and protect any intellectual property resulting from the work.
• If litigation or other dispute resolution procedures, claims, financial management reviews, or audits related to the research project are started before the expiration of the three-year period, or commenced after the three-year period but the relevant data and records have not been destroyed, the Research Data and other project records must be retained until all such litigation/dispute resolution procedures, claims, financial management reviews, or audits involving the records have been resolved, final action has been taken, and the University has confirmed in writing that the subject data and records may be destroyed. If a University litigation hold has been issued with respect to Research Data and records, the Data User must comply with the University’s Litigation Hold Policy and the specific terms of the litigation hold at issue.
• In cases where an allegation of research misconduct is made, Research Data and Research Materials must be retained for the duration of the University proceeding. If the matter is under Health and Human Services’ jurisdiction, Brown must maintain records of the research misconduct proceeding for seven (7) years following completion of the proceeding unless the federal ORI has advised the University in writing that it no longer needs to retain the records.
• Research Data for any project to which a student has substantively contributed, and which are necessary for the student to fulfill a degree requirement, must be retained until the student’s degree is awarded (or the student otherwise leaves the University) and any resulting dissertation/thesis/academic papers are published.
• When research is funded by an award to or contract with Brown that includes specific provision(s) regarding ownership, retention of, and access to technical data, which provisions exceed or conflict with the terms of this Policy, the provision(s) of that agreement will supersede this Policy. 
• Research Data from human subject research studies must be maintained consistent with the approved protocol. In the case of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Clinical Investigation, researchers must comply with the FDA’s Investigator Recordkeeping and Retention Requirements. If the research involves Protected Health Information (PHI), the PI must retain the permission (i.e., the consent form or authorization) to use the PHI for six (6) years beyond the expiration date of the authorization (completion of the research).
• If other regulations, federal oversight, or journal guidelines require longer retention, all applicable sources must be reviewed and the Research Data must be kept for the longest period of time applicable.
• If a DUA or other agreement governing Source Data acquired by the University from an outside party specifies retention or destruction requirements, those Source Data must be retained and/or destroyed in accordance with the terms of the governing agreement. Brown investigators’ rights to retain results derived from use of Source Data in accordance with this Policy will be preserved and protected in all agreements reviewed and executed through established University processes.

The PI is responsible for the appraisal and selection of Research Data falling under the categories above and for complying with retention and destruction requirements set forth in this Policy. Research Data should be removed/destroyed in accordance with CIS Data Removal Recommendations or as otherwise stipulated in any agreement that governs the data’s removal and destruction. Brown recommends that a certificate or other documentation of destruction for confidential or otherwise sensitive data be maintained indefinitely by the PI.

The University Records Manager will work with PIs to (i) determine the most appropriate disposal solutions for data that has met and/or exceeds the periods outlined in this Policy, and (ii) assess the need and determine any storage solutions for data that should be retained beyond the minimum established retention periods. The University Archivist will work with PIs to help appraise and select data and materials having enduring historical value for the University and society.

This Policy should not be construed to limit the right of any member of the Brown community who is a Data User on a project/activity to have access to and to work with the Research Data generated in that project/activity, nor should this Policy be construed to constrain the practices that are particular to the field of inquiry of which the data are a part.

All individuals to whom this Policy applies are responsible for becoming familiar with and following this Policy. University supervisors are responsible for promoting the understanding of this Policy and for taking appropriate steps to help ensure compliance with it.

All members of the Brown community have a responsibility to report violations of this Policy to the Policy Owner or Contact identified below. 

• Brown University Acceptable Use Policy
• Brown University Data Removal Recommendations
• Brown University Data Risk Classifications
• Brown University Data Use Agreement Guidance for Researchers
• Brown University Litigation Hold Policy
• Brown University Material Transfer Agreements
• Brown University Openness in Research Policy
• Brown University Patent and Invention and Copyright Policy
• Brown University Records Retention Policy

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• Brown Digital Repository
• Brown University Research Data and Management Services
• Brown University Research Data Management and Sharing Plans
• CIS Data Removal Recommendations
• Investigator Recordkeeping and Retention Requirements
• National Institutes of Health Sharing Policies
• National Science Foundation Data Sharing Policy
• The Research Data website includes example case studies to assist with application of this Policy.