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China issues regulations for sharing and management of scientific data

Summary

Earlier in April, China's State Council issued new regulations regarding the management of scientific data. This is China's first national-level regulation governing scientific data, and calls for all data from publicly-funded research to be submitted to relevant authorities before publication in overseas journals, along with information on its creators and origins. The regulations also clarify responsibilities and strengthen requirements related to information security.

Depending on the source of funding, the relevant authorities could be at the national, provincial or institutional level, and the rules will be implemented and interpreted separately by the relevant authorities at each level. "Social organisations" - a category that includes public universities and research centres - are specifically included as public funding sources who will be responsible for data management.

In most cases this data should be available for open access and sharing. However, there are exceptions for data that has implications for personal privacy, trade secrets or national security, and according to official announcements the regulations will also strengthen the ability to track leaks and erase lost data in these categories.

According to a researcher quoted in Science magazine, the new policies "will not have a serious impact on scientific research", but could lead to delays when publishing scientific papers.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, International Education Services

The new data management regulations will not have a strong direct impact in UK-China collaboration, and in many cases Chinese universities have their own institutional-level data management policies which cover similar ground. However, UK academics should be aware of these regulations and the need to register all data with Chinese authorities before publication. Another effect of the policy will be increased availability of data from Chinese scientific research, which could have a positive effects on the research environment.

Sources

1. State Council, Rules to enhance security, openness of scientific data: http://english.gov.cn/policies/policy_watch/2018/04/05/content_281476101961402.htm

2. Science Magazine, China asserts firm grip on research data: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/china-asserts-firm-grip-research-data

3. Full details of the regulations (in Chinese): http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2018-04/02/content_5279272.htm