Management of Research Data and Research Records

Projects often raise many questions regarding, for example, data storage, security, and handling of personal data. Many funders require a Data Management Plan (DMP) to be prepared, either when applying for or after receiving funding.

A DMP answers questions about how you plan to organize, store, and preserve your data during and after the project. It is intended as a helpful tool and can be updated as the project progresses.

The Data Management Plan is a research record that must be registered.

Support for Data Management Plans

• Read the overview “Create a Data Management Plan” on the Staff Pages
• The faculty’s data stewards provide advice and answer questions

Research data must be stored and managed securely. Lund University offers a free storage solution with research data folders and has developed a guide on how to classify your research data for security so you can choose an appropriate storage solution. You then order storage space yourself using your LUCAT ID.

If you have research data with a high security classification, you currently need to manage it in one of the secure systems offered by the university: LUSEC or COSMOS-SENS.

Support for storage and management of research data

• The faculty’s data stewards provide advice and answer questions
• Information on storage and security classification is available on the Staff Pages

Whether you work with physical or digital records and data, you can save a lot of time and effort by deciding on a basic structure and naming conventions at the start of a project.
It doesn’t have to be complicated, and you probably already have a way to name different versions, source materials, interviews, etc. A clear structure is especially important if several people will create and use files.

Things to consider when organizing your material:

• Decide and document a folder structure for where different documents should be saved and try to find a logical order. This applies to both digital and physical documents, even though most are digital today.
• Decide how files should be named. Should they include dates, names, or other significant identifiers?
• Decide how different versions should be handled—saved or overwritten?
• Can you already choose to save in durable formats that make it easy to reuse the data in the future?
• Write down your choices so others can understand them and so you can refer back to them.

Information from the Swedish National Data Service on how to appropriately organize research material is available here.
 

When your collected data contains personal information, it must be managed according to several regulations. Guidance is available on the staff web, and the faculty’s data stewards can also provide advice and answer questions.

Information on personal data in research on the Staff Pages
FAQs on personal data management at LU
Information on PULU, LU’s register for processing personal data
 

As a researcher, you are responsible for ensuring your research records are correctly registered. Since 2025, LU has a simplified routine for this. The staff web provides a detailed overview of which records must be registered and a form to simplify the process. When filling out the form, you should indicate Elin Thunell or Jon Eriksen as the faculty’s administrator.

Information on registration of research records is available on the Staff Pages.
 

At the end of a project, certain research records, including research data, must be either discarded or archived. Research data must be preserved for at least 10 years, after which a decision on disposal is made. You need to prepare your records for this process by organizing, cleaning, and describing them. The faculty’s data stewards can answer questions and provide guidance.
A decision on the Faculty of Law’s more specific handling will be made in autumn 2025.

Information on archiving research records is available on the Staff Pages.