“Publicly funded research data are a public good, (...), which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner (...).”

UKRI provide seven common principles on research data, responsibilities relevant to all UKRI award holders. Detailed guidance on this policy.

UKRI includes AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC, STFC, Innovate UK and Research England.

AHRC do not have a standalone data policy; instead, follow the UKRI common principles on data sharing. AHRC require Data Management Plans to be submitted in grant applications. For full guidance, see the AHRC Funding Guide. 

BHF provides a policy on patient data in medical research. It  does not provide a specific data archiving policy. Grant holders need to understand and adhere to the BHF Standard Conditions of Grant.  

"Safeguards should be in place to respect the confidentiality of patients, while also ensuring that medical researchers can gain access to patient data within a secure environment."

A list of all CRUK policies for grant holders, including their Data sharing and preservation policy. Any applicants who consider that the data arising from their proposal will not be suitable for sharing must provide clear reasons for not making it available.

Investigators carrying out research involving human participants must ensure that consent for data sharing is obtained from participants; research data should be anonymised prior to sharing.

Research data should be available for sharing for a minimum period of five years from the end of a research grant.

CRUK also issued a list of FAQ on data sharing.

In 2015, we invited CRUK to discuss their data sharing requirements with researchers at Cambridge. These blog posts summarise these discussions:

Charities' perspective on data management and sharing

Questions and answers

Since 2017, all Horizon 2020 projects are part of the Open Research Data Pilot by default. The Principal Investigator must: 

•    Develop a data management plan in the first 6 months of the project and keep it up-to-date throughout their project

•   Deposit their research data in a suitable research data repository

•    Make sure third parties can freely access, mine, exploit, reproduce and disseminate their data

•    Make clear what tools will be needed to use the raw data to validate research results, or provide the tools themselves.

See 'Open Science' section in the guidelines on mandatory and recommended Open Science practices, and how proposals will be assessed. Some highlights:

Open access to research data is requried under the premise 'as open as possible as close as necessary' (i.e. there can be exceptions).

Data management plans are mandatory for all projects generating or reusing data. 

Providing open access to research outputs beyond publications and data is recommended (e.g. software tools, models, apps, etc.).

Open data costs should be budgeted in the proposal.

Guidance for ERC projects falling under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe can be found here.

Requirements related to research data management are embedded in your ERC grant agreement. Exact requirements depend on the ERC Work Programme.

Funds from your ERC grant can be allocated to storage and maintenance of research data generated by the ERC funded project.

EPSRC has a strict policy on research data sharing. We prepared separate, dedicated guidelines to help you achieve compliance with EPSRC expectations.

Also, please have a look at our list of FAQ, which was developed in consultation with researchers at the University of Cambridge and with Ben Ryan from the EPSRC in 2015. Following these discussions we published a blog post clarifying the EPSRC policy on data management and sharing.

Research data has to be deposited within three months of the end of the award. ESRC UK Data Service (UKDS) is the approved data repository for ESRC-funded research.

Where a delay in dissemination of deposited data is needed to allow grant holders to publish their research findings, an embargo period can be applied to the data.

Researchers have to consider legal, ethical and commercial constraints on release of research data at the initiation of the research process and throughout both the research and data life cycles. This should be described in the data management plan.

ESRC refers researchers to their guidance pages for information on obtaining appropriate consent from participants for for data collection and sharing.

Data supporting accepted articles must be made openly available upon article publication. Accepted articles must have a Data Availability Statement that describes where to find primary metadata, associated metadata, original software and any additional materials needed to understand, assess and replicate the reported findings.

How to comply with the data sharing requirements.

The MRC expects valuable data arising from MRC-funded research to be made available to the scientific community with as few restrictions as possible so as to maximize the value of the data for research and for eventual patient and public benefit. Such data must be shared in a timely and responsible manner. Full MRC guidance on data sharing.

Applicants are also expected to submit a data management plan together with the grant proposal. The MRC provides information on requirements for data management plans.

See also MRC good research practice guidance on data management, integrity, retention and preservation.

"Data sharing is essential for expedited translation of research results into knowledge, products and procedures to improve human health."

A new NIH policy on data management and sharing will come into effect in January 2023. New requirements will be the submission of a data management and sharing plan with applications.

The NIHR strongly supports appropriate sharing of data, to help deliver research that maximises benefits to patients  and the wider public, and health and care system.

Sharing data in a repository is encouraged. Publications must include a data access statement, describing how underpinning data can be accessed. 

Link to all NIHR policies and guidelines.

"Data resulting from publicly funded research should be made publicly available after a limited period, unless there are specific reasons (e.g. legislation, ethical, privacy and security) why this should not happen."

Research data supporting publications should be made available within 6 months of the publication date.

Research data should be retained for at least 10 years from the completion of the project.

"For data that by their nature cannot be re-measured (e.g. earth observations), effort should be made to retain them ‘in perpetuity’"

Data management plans are mandatory for most grant applications.

"As a minimum, the data underpinning research papers should be made available to other researchers at the time of publication, as well as any original software that is required to view datasets or to replicate analyses. Where research data relates to public health emergencies, researchers must share quality-assured interim and final data as rapidly and widely as possible, and in advance of journal publication." 

Anyone applying for Wellcome funding must consider their approach to managing and sharing anticipated outputs at the research proposal stage. Applicants will need to include an outputs management plan. This is reviewed when making a funding decision. They will fund any justified costs for delivering the plan as part of funding the research."

In 2015, we invited the Wellcome Trust to discuss their data sharing requirements with researchers at Cambridge. These blog posts summarise these discussions:

Charities' perspective on data management and sharing

Questions and answers