The participant information sheet will explain the length of time for which we expect to keep your data in identifiable form, and why we retain it for this period.  This will include information about the duration of the project and whether it is necessary to keep data in identifiable form for the whole of that period. It will also inform you of any intention to keep identifiable data for a longer period, for example where there is an intention to link this research to outputs from another project, or to study changes to factors or outcomes over time.  

In setting retention periods BU researchers will take account of any need to retain data in identifiable format to enable them to verify their research outputs, for example if their results are queried before or after publication, through peer review or where their research is subject to assessment or examination.  They also need to take into account any requirements on BU to make data available for audit.  However BU researchers should also set retention periods so that data will not be kept in identifiable form when this is no longer necessary either for the purposes of research in itself or for associated purposes such as audit.  Where longer retention periods are identified as appropriate, this will be kept under review to ensure that we only keep identifiable data where this is necessary for continuing research purposes.

Appropriate security measures and access controls will be applied to identifiable data where a research project is complete and we are storing research data only for audit or verification purposes.