LibGuides: Research Data Services: Funding Agency Requirements

Funding Agency Requirements

Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy

The Government of Canada has finally announced its new Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy. The policy aims to support Canadian research excellence by promoting data management practices, and was developed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in consultation with stakeholders.

The three components of the policy are:

1. Institutional strategies:
Each postsecondary institution eligible to administer CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC funds is required to create an institutional RDM strategy and notify the agencies when it has been completed. The strategy must be made publicly available on the institution’s website, with contact information to which inquiries about the strategy can be directed.

UVic Institutional RDM Strategy

2. Data management plans (DMPs):
All grant proposals submitted to the agencies should include methodologies that reflect best practices in RDM.

For certain funding opportunities, the agencies will require data management plans (DMPs) to be submitted to the appropriate agency at the time of application, as outlined in the call for proposals; in these cases, the DMPs will be considered in the adjudication process.

3. Data deposit:
Grant recipients are required to deposit into a digital repository all digital research data, metadata and code that directly support the research conclusions in journal publications and pre-prints that arise from agency-supported research.

After reviewing the institutional strategies and in line with the readiness of the Canadian research community, the agencies will phase in the deposit requirement.

Other Guidelines and Requirements

For more information about complying with research funding policies, contact the Office of Research Services.

Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management

Canada’s three federal research granting agencies—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and SSHRC— have issued the Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Research Data Management. The statement outlines "overarching expectations regarding research data management, and the responsibilities of researchers, research communities, research institutions and research funders in meeting these expectations."

SSHRC Research Data Archiving Policy

SSHRC has adopted a policy to facilitate making data that has been collected with the help of SSHRC funds available to other researchers. Costs associated with preparing research data for deposit are considered eligible expenses in SSHRC research grant programs. Research data includes quantitative social, political and economic data sets; qualitative information in digital format; experimental research data; still and moving image and sound databases; and other digital objects used for analytical purposes.

Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications

Recipients of CIHR funding are required to adhere with the following responsibilities:

Deposit bioinformatics, atomic, and molecular coordinate data into the appropriate public database (e.g. gene sequences deposited in GenBank) immediately upon publication of research results.
Retain original data sets for a minimum of five years after the end of the grant (or longer if other policies apply). This applies to all data, whether published or not. The grant recipient's institution and research ethics board may have additional policies and practices regarding the preservation, retention, and protection of research data that must be respected.