Sally Gore, MS, MS LIS
Manager, Research & Scholarly Communication Services
sally.gore@umassmed.edu
Tess Grynoch, MLIS
Research Data & Scholarly Communications Librarian
tess.grynoch@umassmed.edu
Leah Honor, MLIS
Research Data & Scholarly Communications Librarian
leah.honor@umassmed.edu
Lisa Palmer, MSLS, AHIP
Institutional Repository Librarian
lisa.palmer@umassmed.edu
Data retention is complex. In many cases there are overlapping policies and statutes that span the research and funding offices of the institution, the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the Intellectual Property (IP) Office, the sponsor of the research, publishers, and state and federal law. Thus, there are several factors to consider for determining how long to hold on to research data, and financial and administrative data, associated with a research project. You are advised to consult the PI, the Office of Research, the IRB, the funder and/or IP as appriopriate before destroying any of a project's data.
The following briefly describes retention problems that might arise in the management of research, financial, or administrative data.
From Erickson, Stephen and Karen M.T. Muskavitch. 2013. Office of Research Integrity. Department of Health and Human Services.
Institutional Review Board for questions about retaining human subjects data
Office of Technology Management for questions about retaining data related to patents and intellectual property
Office of Research for questions about institutional requirements related to data retention
Office of Sponsored Programs for questions about sponsored research data retention policies and records management schedules for administrative and financial data
eScholarship@UMassChan for contacting a librarian and finding information about depositing your data in the institutional repository at UMass Chan
Office of Medical History and Archives for contacting a specialist to discuss archiving data