SLU's data management policy

Page reviewed:  19/05/2025

SLU's data management policy aims to enhance the quality, dissemination, impact and innovation of the university's research and environmental monitoring and assessment.

The policy in short

The policy describes the principles for data management at SLU, including storage, publication and access, and emphasises the importance of good data management in research and environmental monitoring and assessment. The policy applies to all types of digital data produced and processed within research and environmental monitoring and assessment at SLU. In short, SLU's policy is that:

  • research and environmental monitoring and assessment at SLU are characterised by good data management throughout the entire data life cycle;
  • data from research and environmental monitoring and assessment are made available as openly as possible and as restrictively as necessary;
  • data made available are searchable, well-described, identifiable, reusable and machine-readable;
  • the FAIR principles are followed.
  • data management plans are used to ensure good data management in research projects and environmental monitoring and assessment activities;
  • data and metadata are stored securely;
  • information security and data protection are ensured through compliance with legislation, ethical guidelines for research and the university's own regulations and instructions;
  • data must be archived no later than at the end of a project or study.

Data management support at SLU

SLU has a support service that assists staff with issues relating to the management of research and environmental assessment data.

Further information on data management is also available on the SLU Library website:

  • SLU’s guides to various aspects of scientific data management

Summary and guidance

The policy states:

SLU endorses the FAIR data sharing principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and considers properly managed, accessible, and reusable data as a valuable and necessary resource for conducting research, teaching and environmental monitoring and assessment of high quality.

The FAIR principles mean that research data should be:

  • Findable
  • Accessible
  • Interoperable
  • Reusable

The principles have, in recent years, gained strong traction and become key guidelines for sound data management and open access to data.

More information on how to meet the criteria can be found here:

Data cannot, in themselves, be owned. However, their use and management may be subject to various forms of regulation. It is important to determine whether, and how, the relevant datasets are regulated in connection with both their use and availability.

Any applicable agreements and regulations (such as database rights, copyright, contracts, trade secrets legislation and legislation concerning personal data) take precedence over the principles set out in the policy. However, the principles should be taken into account as far as possible when drafting agreements.

  • More information is available in the policy and on the SLU staff web.

The policy states:

A data management plan must be drawn up, registered, and then maintained over time for each new project and/or study in research and environmental monitoring and assessment at SLU.

A data management plan is a document that describes how data are handled and documented during and after a project.

SLU’s data management support team provides ready-made templates and can offer assistance. You can also read more in the SLU University Library’s guide:

The policy states: 

Data together with associated metadata and potential other documentation must be stored in a secure manner. They shall be protected from unauthorised access and loss, independent of whether or not the data are to be made publicly accessible.
  • To use a cloud service for storing personal data, a data processing agreement must be in place with the service provider.
  • Cloud services may not be used for storing or processing sensitive personal data.
  • Primary storage must take place on computers and storage media that are regularly backed up.

More information on storage:

  • Guide: Storing and backing up scientific data at SLU
  • The IT-department has information on storage on the staff web (in Swedish): Fillagring

The policy states: 

Data producers shall ensure that research and environmental monitoring and assessment data is protected, classified and risk assessed and that information security and data protection are followed in accordance with legislation, good research practice, and the University's regulations and instructions.

Policyn säger: 

Data generated in research as well as environmental monitoring and assessment at SLU shall be openly available with as few restrictions as possible. Data must be made available according to the principle "as early as possible, as late as necessary", based on the conditions of the project or study.
  • The requirement applies from the date the policy was implemented, and thus not for data collected before September 2022.
  • The policy does not specify in detail which data must be made available, in what form (raw data, processed data, aggregated data), or at what point in time.

As far as possible, data should be made available in repositories (data catalogues) that assign persistent identifiers (PIDs). Preferably, a certified repository should be used. In cases where the datasets themselves cannot be made available (e.g. due to confidentiality or personal data), metadata should be published if possible.

SLU employees can publish data free of charge in the research data portal Researchdata.se (provided by the Swedish National Data Service). The SLU data management team provides support. Read more:

The policy states:

In data catalogues, the data licence can often be specified in the metadata. By means of licences users become aware of the purposes for which data may be used and the conditions for further sharing. Licensing is an important component of meeting the FAIR data sharing principles.

For information on licences when publishing data, see our FAQ): 

The policy states: 

Research and environmental monitoring and assessment data generated at SLU are considered official documents and are subject to the constitutional principle of public access to official records. Thus, data must be, as a rule, released upon request and preserved in SLU's archives.

According to the regulations of the Swedish National Archives, universities are responsible for the archiving of official documents. This responsibility includes taking measures to ensure that digital research records can be presented, understood, and remain reliable for as long as they are to be preserved.

Staff engaged in research and environmental monitoring and assessment

The person responsible for a study always has primary responsibility for his or her own activities and must ensure that good research practice, current legislation, and established procedures are followed.

Data controller

For all projects or studies carried out at SLU, a data controller must be appointed and named in the data management plan. In most cases, it is appropriate for the project’s Project Manager (PI) or equivalent to be the data controller.

The data controller must ensure that the data management policy is followed and that any necessary agreements are established. If the data controller leaves SLU, the head of department assumes this responsibility. Data produced at SLU must be retained at SLU, even if the person responsible for the data changes workplace.

Heads of department or equivalent

The head of department has overall responsibility for ensuring that research and environmental monitoring and assessment conducted at the department comply with the data management policy. The head of department shall also, in their role as information owner, take overarching responsibility for ensuring that information –including research and environmental monitoring data – is protected, classified and risk assessed according to information security guidelines.

SLU

As the principal body responsible for the research and environmental monitoring and assessment conducted at SLU, the university holds the overarching responsibility for ensuring that data are managed lawfully, appropriately, and securely. SLU must ensure the development of support functions and infrastructure that enable compliance with the policy.

The policy states: 

Data management costs related to an externally funded project should be included in the project application to the funder. For assignments in environmental monitoring and assessment, the costs should be specified in an agreement with the client.

Read the full policy

The policy can be downloaded from the SLU staff web:

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