Policy and ethics

Bond University’s policy in relation to research data is included in the Research Code of Conduct Policy RES 4.5.1.

Several other Bond University policies impact research and research data.

Since the 1st January 2013, two of Australia’s major research funding bodies - the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) have implemented open access policies.

National Health and Medical Research Council

The NHMRC requires researchers to document data management practices and carefully consider issues such as ownership, ethics, storage, data sharing and disposal.

The NHMRC Statement on Data Sharing includes:

• NHMRC acknowledges the importance of making data publicly accessible.
• NHMRC encourages data sharing and open access to data and other research outputs (metadata, analysis code, study protocols, study materials and other collected data) arising from NHMRC supported research.

Australian Research Council

The ARC is committed to maximising the benefits of ARC-funded research by ensuring greater access to research data.

• ARC Research Data Management

Pure

Bond University’s institutional repository, Pure, can assist authors in complying with national and international funder policies by storing open access copies of their publications and ensuring they are open and discoverable.

Pure research outputs are publicly displayed in the Research Portal.

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 articulates the broad principles and responsibilities that underpin the conduct of Australian research. The Code has been endorsed by Bond University and applies to all researchers.

The Guide to Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018, available on the same page, outlines the roles and responsibilities of institutions and the responsibilities of researchers in relation to the management of research data.

Two guides that support the Code (released in June 2019) are available below.

The sharing of personal and confidential research data must be done ethically. ANDS provides some guidelines on how the sharing of research data that relates to people can often be achieved using a combination of obtaining consent, anonymising data and regulating data access. The ANDS Guide to Ethics Consent and Data Sharing is available on the ANDS website.  This Guide outlines practical steps to be taken by researchers who want to make their data available to others and by Human Research Ethics Committees who want to provide institutional support for the sharing of sensitive data.

Consent

When collecting data from individuals it's important to gain informed consent from the participants that explicitly tells them who may access the data and how the data will be shared during the course of the project and in the future.

Consent may be:

1. ‘specific’: limited to the specific project under consideration;
2. ‘extended’: given for the use of data or tissue in future research projects that are:
   1. an extension of, or closely related to, the original project; or
   2. in the same general area of research (for example, genealogical, ethnographical, epidemiological, or chronic illness research);
3. ‘unspecified’: given for the use of data or tissue in any future research.

From the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, Chapter 2.2

Bond ethics and research

Information about applying for ethics approval for research can be found on the Bond University Research Ethics page.

When applying for ethics approval, you could consider making data accessible or discoverable at the conclusion of the research.