The Rectorate of the University of Freiburg adopted a new Policy on the Handling of Research Data on 21 September 2022. It replaces the principles from 2018 and clarifies what applies to researchers and where the university provides support. The updated policy makes clear recommendations on how researchers should make their data visible and usable in their own interests and in the interests of the institution as a whole. It is the reference framework for regulations on how research clusters and university institutions should organise their data strategies. There is sufficient leeway for subject-specific requirements so that academic freedom and research data management complement each other in a meaningful way.

Exchange and the ability to cooperate are also among the requirements. To ensure this, the policy provides recommendations for persistent identifiers. The following identifiers are recommended for the assignment of persons involved in the acquisition of data and of data sets that are cited and reused. Researchers at the University of Freiburg are encouraged to use an ORCID identifier, and publications or meaningful units of research data should be citable via a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). This creates good conditions for making research data a visible part of scientific work that contributes to reputation¹.

Data integrity as a prerequisite for scientific integrity

In the updated version, data integrity is the goal of all research data management. Data-driven research will only ensure trust if there is no doubt about the integrity of the data. Integrity does not happen by itself, but must be ensured by technical and organisational measures, irrespective of the requirements of third-party funding bodies. The responsibility for maintaining integrity remains with those who generate and process data in the scientific process.

The policy also states the goal of keeping data available. In the context of Open Access, to which the University of Freiburg committed itself with the Open Access Resolution of 2010², this means making research data available for the review of results or for subsequent use. With reference to the FAIR principles, this includes preparation to simplify further processing through metadata and annotations.