End of Study and Archival Policy

REDCap is primarily a data collection tool and is not intended for long term storage or archiving of study data. The Library has systems that are intended for that purpose. Current policy is that studies will remain in REDCap until deleted by the researcher. However, we are undertaking some housekeeping and will be removing old projects, as part of our Stale Project Review.

At the end of a project we suggest the following:

1. Download copies of the project data dictionary and exported data. Instructions can be found here. These downloads should be archived according to your preferences

2. Remove from the project any users who do not need access 

3. "Archive" the project in REDCap as per instructions on the project's "Other Functionality" page. Selecting "Mark Project as Completed" will remove the project from the "My Projects" list of all users unless the users choose to "show completed projects" on their Projects page.

4. Once you have published and the project is no longer required you can request deletion by accessing the "Other functionality" tab on the project setup page (see below) and clicking "Request delete project". If that feature is not available, please contact the helpdesk. Helpdesk staff will delete the project from REDCap and it will not be recoverable. For privacy reasons it should be noted that data will remain on system backups for a period of 30 days.

To assist researchers in supporting open science, as well as meeting both funder and journal requirements, deidentified project data such as downloaded data files, protocols and other documents can be deposited and published within Library repository systems for open discovery, appropriate access, and potential re-use by others. Data deposited within both the University of Alberta Library Borealis-Dataverse and the Education and Research Archive (ERA) repositories are assigned a persistent identifier (DOI) that can be referenced in academic outputs, including publications. Further information and details for both Borealis-Dataverse and ERA can be found on the Library web site. 

U of A Borealis-Dataverse: https://borealisdata.ca/dataverse/ualberta

ERA: https://ualberta.scholaris.ca/home

For guidance and assistance with research data management (RDM), including data management planning and data deposit, contact the Library’s Data Services Team at data@ualberta.ca. 

University of Alberta staff should also refer to the University's Research Records Stewardship Guidance Procedure which can be found on the UAPPOL web site.