Legal requirements, RDM and Open Data

Abstract

Quite often when we talk about legal issues related to research data, we fall into discussions about privacy and personal data. This issue is fundamental when data are gathered from personal surveys or clinical trials, for instance. In these cases, researchers should follow the standard procedures established by their institutions through dedicated committees, for example an ethics or bioethics commission. In many of these cases, data cannot be shared openly. Only some aggregated data or anonymised data can be shared following a strict procedure1. In this chapter, I would like to focus on the legal tools we have to make data open once we have overcome all the possible barriers to providing data gathered or created during research activities. For the purpose of this case study, I will use the term open as defined by the open definition: “Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose”.