Data policy

Twin Otter aircraft approaching Rothera Research Station

Overview

The UK Polar Data Centre (UK PDC) is committed to managing data effectively to provide the services required for delivering the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) data policy and to ensure maximum exploitation and integrity of polar data.

Data preservation and withdrawal

All NERC data centres manage data as outlined in the NERC EDS Data Preservation and Withdrawal Policy. The aim of this policy is to ensure the sustainability of the digital data. It also establishes principles by which data may be removed from direct public access and/or disposed of.

Data submission requirements

NERC data policy requires that all environmental data of long-term value generated through NERC-funded activities must be offered to a NERC data repository for long-term management.

Data management planning

NERC data centres will facilitate this by working with Project Investigators of NERC funded projects to create and implement a data management plan.

The expectation is that data of long-term value are submitted to a NERC Data Centre (or agreed alternative repository) in a suitable format and accompanied by all necessary metadata.

Data licensing

All environmental data made available by NERC environmental data centres (e.g. UK PDC) will be accompanied by a data licence. This will normally be the Open Government Licence which allows the data to be used for any purpose provided the source is acknowledged.

Exclusive use period

To protect the research process NERC will allow those who undertake NERC-funded work a period to work exclusively on, and publish the results of, the data they have collected. This period will normally be a maximum of two years from the end of data collection.  

Quality Assurance

Data are subject to appropriate quality assurance processes before being made available.

Legal Framework

Data are managed in compliance with the following legal frameworks: