Safeguarding Research Data

Copyright, Data Use / Sharing
 

When working with research partners, e.g., any project where you are not the sole researcher - you'll need to know who on the team owns the copyright to your research outputs - and all copyright owners will need to come to an agreement about how the project's data may be used or shared with others after the project ends. 
 

• If your research partner(s) are from other institutions and/or other copyright jurisdictions - be aware that they likely have different requirements with respect to data security, data governance, privacy, consent forms, research ethics, copyright and more.
   

It may be in the best interests of the group to negotiate a formal agreement detailing the uses/sharing options will be permitted with respect to your joint intellectual property. Every member would need to sign this at the outset of the project  - ideally in consultation with a legal expert as well as other campus responsible departments such as RIO, the Privacy Office, and the Research Ethics Board. 

 

For more information on this topic see the Copyright & Research Data at Douglas College page in the College Copyright Guide.

The best way to share and work with Research Data safely is in SharePoint, including its manifestations OneDrive and Teams. SharePoint data is stored in an encrypted format and the data is protected by Multi-factor Authentication.

Teams Groups at Douglas College

 

The approach

1. The best approach to storing shared project data in SharePoint is to create a Team in Microsoft Teams.
    
   1. Files stored within a Team can be shared with Team members to whom a Team creator provides access.
   2. Files stored within a Team can be shared with anyone directly from SharePoint.
       
2. Back up your data stored within a Team to OneDrive regularly - by manually saving your files in an archive/versions folder. (As noted above, OneDrive is another manifestation of SharePoint.)
    
   1. We recommend that you back up your files (at least) every four weeks as Microsoft only keeps its automatic backups for a month.
       
   2. Data in OneDrive can be accessed offline if synchronized to a local drive.  It can not be accessed by a malicious person who does not have your  user name and password - even if the device is stolen and its hard drive is not encrypted.
3. How to set up One Drive so that it’s mapped to your local computer:
    
   1. Instructions: https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-add-onedrive-to-file-explorer
   2. YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaUwIkOhdaE

 

Details / Explanation
 

1. Teams and OneDrive store data in SharePoint through different interfaces, each with its specific advantages.
   
2. If you want to Share a file with someone who is does not belong to a Team you’ve created, open a folder in SharePoint:

 

This will open the folder in a traditional SharePoint interface:
 

 

From there you can choose Manage Access:

 

 

 

You can also Manage Access directly from Teams by clicking the three dots next to a file name and choosing Manage Access:

 

 

Clicking on the plus sign on the next screen will allow you to grant access to a non-team member:

 

External Research Partners

 

Access
 

Please contact the IT Service Desk for assistance if you want to provide people outside of Douglas College with access to your Teams group.  CEIT can setup guest accounts for research team members who are not College employees.