Planning your data management is still needed when you use third party data.

Just as you would for primary data (the data you collect or create), you will need to fully consider all the issues that may arise in managing third party data. For example: 

• where the research data will be stored
• how it will be kept secure, especially if the data contains sensitive information
• how it will be organised
• how it can be used and any conditions of use  (the licence for a data source or terms of use granted by the data provider)
• how it will be processed (how you will manipulate, cleanse or otherwise process it to make it suitable for your own purposes)
• what will happen to it when your research ends (e.g. secure disposal, sharing a modified or any derived datasets in a data repository).

Before a project begins it is prudent to investigate the data sources that are essential for your research, to ascertain that they can be used for the purposes anticipated.

To help you with your data management planning, create a list of the key data sources you will use along with the terms of use for each source, and whether the data will be solely consulted or if it is to be incorporated into new datasets or used to derived new datasets that you plan to archive and share.

You can find further guidance on the planning your data management page.

Where research is funded by an external partner, or where an external partner makes a contribution to a project, the partner may be awarded intellectual property rights in the results, including the research data.

If you are an investigator on a collaborative project you should ensure that all those involved have a shared understanding of how the project will be conducted. The basis on which the research data will be collected, stored, accessed, retained and shared should be set out in any contracts or collaboration agreements covering the research.

You can work with Research and Knowledge Exchange Contracts to ensure that suitable agreements for the ownership and use of research data are established and agreed in writing by the parties concerned before a project starts.

Publicly funded research where data sharing is expected

"Projects that involve collaboration between separate legal entities should have formal agreements to clarify responsibilities and arrangements for access to data and managing permissions. Such agreements should be developed at an early stage and should take account of any applicable funding terms and conditions." - UKRI guidance on best practice in the management of research data

Issues around data ownership, who has the rights to share or prohibit the sharing of data, occur for third party data.

You must not share research data if you do not have the rights to do so. For example, 

• the data is owned by a third party and your licence to reuse the data does not allow you to archive and share it. 
• the intellectual property is assigned to collaborators or the funder in your contract. You should understand the intellectual property rights assigned within your funding contract or collaboration agreement and how this relates to data sharing in your project.

If you cannot archive and share the data you have reused you should keep sufficiently detailed documentation to enable others to reproduce your findings. You should also cite the data you have reused in your research outputs.

Third party data should be disposed of securely and in accordance with the data provider's terms of use.

You might be required to dispose of data to a particular standard. In some cases this standard for destruction may differ from or exceed that recommended in university guidance and therefore special attention should be paid to such obligations.

The University's disposing of information guide provides guidance.

Further advice and support on the disposal of digital data is available from IT Services, email itsupport@york.ac.uk.