How do I know if I can publish data openly?

As open as possible, as closed as necessary

SLU policy as well as many funders and publishers require that data from publicly funded research are made openly available if possible. The fundamental principle is to make data available as open as possible, as closed as necessary. In case data cannot be published openly, due to legal or ethical reasons, a description/documentation of the data shall be made available in the data repository alongside information on how to request access to that data. Access is then determined on a case-by-case basis by the research principal performing a secrecy examination according to the provisions of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (Offentlighets- och sekretesslagen).

See below for some examples of categories of data that may not be possible to publish openly as well as information about how to publish data with restricted access. If you unsure whether data need to be protected, please contact Data Management Support, dms@slu.se. We will involve Legal or Information security if needed to provide advice.

Reasons for restricting access to data

Here we list some examples of when access to data may have to be restricted rather than making them available for direct download:

• Personal data
  As a general rule, personal data should not be published openly. Yet, some types of personal data may still be shared openly, provided that the correct measurements were taken regarding collection and management of data in accordance with the GDPR and that the data is stored at SLU or in a repository with a personal data processing agreement with SLU. Keep in mind that pseudonymised data (i.e., data in which names, for instance, have been replaced with code) and indirect personal data (i.e., data that cannot identify a person on its own but can do so in combination with other data or sources) are still personal data and, therefore, subject to GDPR. Read more:
  • Sharing data containing personal information (Swedish National Data Service) 
     
• Collaborative or commissioned research, business secrets
  Secrecy may apply if research is done in collaboration with or commissioned by a private company who wishes to withhold data, or delay publication of the data until after a certain period of time (embargo or non disclosure agreement). Read more about confidentiality provisions in research:
  • Legal prerequisites (SLU)
     
• Species protection (e.g. exact locations)
  • Nationally protected spieces (SLU Artdatabanken, Swedish only) 
     
• Classified information (e.g. information that could harm essential national interests if disclosed).
  Not even a description of such data should be published.
  • Information securiy and classification (SLU, Swedish only)

• Copyright
  Research data may contain copyrighted material such as images or literary text that may not be possible to republish unless you have obtained permission to do so or the material was already shared with an open licence.

Publishing data with restricted access

In the Swedish National Data Service (SND) data repository, SLU staff can deposit data that fall into the above categories (with the exception of classified information), and provide data with restricted access. Metadata and documentation are published openly, increasing the visibility of the data and complying with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), while there is a mechanism for requesting access to data. Data are released if permitted by secrecy legislation. 

Read more about the SND data repository:

• Publish data in the SND repository and Researchdata.se (SLU)
• As open as possible, as restricted as necessary (SND) 
   

Research data can also be placed in SLU:s central e-archive with open or restricted access. If you deposit data with SND, archiving is taken care of in the same process. Contact DMS for more information about archiving data at SLU.