Data preservation and disposal after the master’s thesis

At the beginning of the master’s thesis process, it is important to plan how long and where the research data will be preserved after the graduation. The research data should be retained for a period of time deemed necessary after completion of the thesis and then disposed of appropriately. The student is responsible for preserving and disposing of the collected research data.

In particular, when processing personal data, care must be taken in the preservation and disposal. As a general rule, research data containing personal data must be disposed of when they are no longer necessary for the purpose of use. Any further use for the same purpose should be considered before disposing of the research data. The data can be anonymised, i.e. all information leading to the identification of a study participant can be deleted, in which case the data can be opened for re-use or publishing. Study participants must be informed (before the thesis project starts) about possible re-use purposes of the data but also about what happens to the collected data and the personal data they contain during and after the thesis process. If you are working with in a research group, they can advice you on the preserving and disposal of the data after the graduation. More information on data protection on the webpage of Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.

Jos tutkimusaineistolla on uudelleenkäyttöarvoa eikä sen avaamiselle ole esteitä, aineiston voi avata jatkokäyttöön tallentamalla sen uudelleen käytettäväksi data-arkistoon tai repositorioon. Voit valita ohjaajasi avustukselle omalle opinnäytetyön aineistollesi parhaiten sopivan kansallisen tai kansainvälisen datan avaamiseen soveltuvan palvelun. Huomaa, että jos käytät jonkun muun omistamaa tutkimusaineistoa opinnäytetyössäsi, niin et voi yksi tehdä päätöstä aineiston avaamisesta tai julkaisemisesta. Lisää tietoa tutkimusaineistojen avaamisesta Itä-Suomen yliopiston Avoimet tutkimusaineistot verkkosivulta.