Dr Wee-Ming Boon presented at the Adelaide Research Integrity Advisors Data Management Workshop on 16 June 2017

1. Research Integrity Advisors Workshop
Data management
16 June 2017, Adelaide
Wee-Ming Boon (NHMRC)
Justin Withers (ARC)

2. Presentation overview
• Australian Research Council (ARC) & National Health and Medical
Research Council (NHMRC) overview
• Open Data: Whole of Government approach
• Open Data: ARC and NHMRC requirements
• Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

3. ARC and NHMRC Overview
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
• The ARC and NHMRC are Commonwealth entities
• The ARC’s main responsibilities are:
o Providing funding for research through the National Competitive Grants
Program (NCGP)
o Evaluating the quality of research in universities under the Excellence in
Research for Australia (ERA) program
o Developing an engagement and impact assessment framework
o Providing advice on research matters to Government.
• The NHMRC’s main responsibilities are:
o Fund high quality health and medical research and build research capability
o Support the translation of health and medical research into better health
outcomes
o Promote the highest ethical standards in health and medical research.

4. 2016-17 Federal Budget - $450.6 billion
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

5. 2016-17 Federal Budget – R&D $10.1 billion
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

6. ARC Funding
ARC investment on R&D for 2016-2017 is:
• ~$744.4 million
• ~7.4% of Commonwealth expenditure on all R&D
• research funded is across all disciplines – clinical and
medical is primarily supported by the NHMRC
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

7. NHMRC Funding
NHMRC expenditure on health and medical research is:
• ~$800 million per annum
• ~15% of all Australian health R&D
• ~10% of Commonwealth expenditure on all R&D
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

8. Open Data
Whole of Government Approach
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

9. • 7 December 2015
• Grow the economy, transform
policy & improve service delivery
by:
o Optimising the use and reuse
of public data
o Collaborating with private and
research sectors
o Releasing non sensitive data
as open by default
• Public data: All data collected by
government entities.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Australian Govt. Public Data Policy Statement
www.dpmc.gov.au

10. Australian Government / Sector Initiatives
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Department of Education and
Training working group
• Developing government strategy
for open access to publicly
funded publications and data.
• National Innovation and Science
Agenda to promote innovation
through publishing and sharing
public data.
• Boosting the Commercial
Returns from Research agenda
to open business and community
access to publicly funded
publications and data.
www.education.gov.au

11. • National ICT Australia (NICTA) and
CSIRO’s digital research unit
merger: Data61 to connect
government datasets and release
them on open platforms.
• data.gov.au to find, access, and
reuse Government datasets.
• Australia’s First Open Government
National Action Plan 2016-18 draft.
• Productivity Commission Data
availability and use final report.
• F.A.I.R Statement
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Australian Government / Sector Initiatives
www.fair-access.net.au
www.data61.csiro.au

12. Australian National Data
Service
• National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy funding.
• Research Data Australia
discovery portal that provides
access for research organisations,
government and cultural institutions.
Australian Data Archive
• Collection and preservation of
digital research data for
secondary analysis .
• Consistent with ARC data
management requirements.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Australian Government / Sector Initiatives
www.ada.edu.au
www.ands.org.au

13. International Developments in Data
Management
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

14. International research funders
• Data management or sharing plan:
National Science Foundation, National
Institutes of Health (USA), Research
Councils, Wellcome Trust (UK)
• Retaining research datasets:
Canadian Institutes of Health, Social
Sciences and Humanities Research
Council (Canada)
• Provide/specify which repository to
use: Economic and Social Research
Council, SRC, National Environment
Research Council , Medical Research
Council, Cancer Research, Wellcome
Trust (UK).
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
www.mrc.ac.uk
www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
www.wellcome.ac.uk
www.nih.gov

15. Tools being developed
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
EU Open
Access
Monitor

16. Academic publishers
“Research data should be made available
free of charge to all researchers wherever
possible and with minimal reuse restrictions”.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
o Submission of data files with final manuscript
o Data sharing service (Figshare)
www.elsevier.com
www.wiley.com

17. ARC and NHMRC
Data Management Requirements
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

18. Open Data
o Types of data produced
o Standards and approaches to data management, analysis,
archiving, storing, sharing, citation and publication
o Funders and publishers are increasing support
Open data and data management are dynamic and rapidly
evolving
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Open Access &
Open Science
Open Data
Community
and researcher
benefits

19. ARC: Open Data
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
• The ARC encourages researchers to deposit data arising from research
projects in publicly accessible repositories.
o Included in ARC funding rules since 2007
o Where researchers are unable to meet this requirement, reasons
must be provided in the Final Report.
• Recognising the challenges involved in addressing the rapid growth and
significant changes occurring in relation to data, the ARC has not
mandated open access to research data.

20. ARC: Data Management
• Effective data management is an important part of ensuring open
access to publicly funded research data.
• The ARC requires researchers to outline how they plan to manage
research data arising from ARC-funded research.
o Included as part of the NCGP application process since February
2014.
• The ARC does not require full, detailed data management plans (such
as those required by some funding agencies internationally).
• Further information is available at:
http://www.arc.gov.au>Polices and Strategies>Strategy>Research Data
Management
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

21. ARC: Data Management Alignment
The ARC’s requirement is consistent with:
• Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007)
• OECD Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from
Public Funding (2007)
o Guidance on the management of data and primary materials.
o Australia, as an OECD member, is expected (not legally bound)
to implement the principles and guidelines.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

22. NHMRC: Statement on Data Sharing
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
“NHMRC encourages data
sharing and providing access
to data and other research
outputs (metadata, analysis
code, study protocols, study
materials and other collected
data) arising from NHMRC
supported research.”

23. NHMRC: Principles for accessing and using
publicly funded data for health research
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
• common set of priorities
• encourage communication
• understand each other’s roles
and responsibilities
• optimise data use to benefit all

24. Open Access Policies: Publications
• ARC: any publications arising from ARC supported research Project
must be deposited into an open access institutional repository within a
twelve (12) month period from the publication date.
o Where researchers are unable to meet this requirement, reasons
must be provided in the Final Report.
• NHMRC: requires that any publication arising from NHMRC supported
research must be deposited into an open access institutional repository
and/or made available in another open access format within a twelve
(12) month period from the date of publication.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

25. Australian Code for the Responsible
Conduct of Research and Data
Management 2007
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

26. Responsibilities
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
Management of research data (section 2)
o Institutions: Ownership, data management & access
o Researchers: Data management, access and privacy/ethics
Dissemination of research (section 4)
o Institutions: publication, promotion and communication
o Researcher: dissemination and the level of coverage

27. Review of the Code
• Review is to ensure the Code remains practical and relevant in an
evolving research sector and landscape, both domestically and
internationally.
• A principles-based Code with accompanying Better Practice
Guides (BPG) is currently being considered. This approach:
• allows institutions flexibility in how to apply the principles and
responsibilities supporting them
• includes adopting an approach that is best suited to their size
and internal systems.
• designed to be effective across all disciplines.
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC

28. Data management and the Code
NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
• A new potentially principles-based Code will specify responsibilities for
both institutions and researchers in relation to the management of
research data.
• A specific BPG on data management is currently under development in
consultation with the Australian National Data Service (ANDS).
• Input from appropriately experienced individuals within institutions will
also be sought.

29. NHMRC & ARCARC and NHMRC
• Guide institutions and individuals to:
o ensure that sufficient data and materials are retained to justify the
outcomes of research
o allow for appropriate access to, and use of, data and materials by
interested parties, and
o maximise the potential value of data and materials for future
research.
o provide guidance to assist researchers in management of their
data.
• Public consultation on the BPG will occur later in the year.
Data management Better Practice Guide

30. Thank you!
Research Integrity Advisors Workshop
Data management
16 June 2017, Adelaide
Wee-Ming Boon (NHMRC)
Justin Withers (ARC)