FSD's Data Management Policy

Kinds of Data

FSD is committed to FAIR principles and archives only reusable data. We archive quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (i.e., text, speech, or visual images) research data. Data suitable for research purposes and for teaching and study are also accepted. We archive data from social sciences, humanities, and in some cases also from technology, natural sciences or non-invasive health or medical research. The data must meet our qualitative, technical, and legislative criteria.

Personal data handled

FSD services are widely used, and the number of downloads from Aila Data Service is growing steadily. Thus, the most significant portion of the personal data processed is customer data, i.e., depositors’ and reusers’ personal data. We have GDPR compliant procedures and privacy notices for both customer groups.

We advice researchers to follow our guidelines on anonymisation in the Data Management Guidelines: Anonymisation of quantitative data & Anonymisation of qualitative data. Since the depositor is the controller of the archived data, we always ask the depositor’s consent for any further anonymisation we carry out.

If a researcher wishes to archive research data with identifiers or the data are pseudonymous, we help the researcher to assess compliance with the GDPR and the Finnish Data Protection Act.

Quality control procedures

We examine all deposited data thoroughly and document any alterations to data. Variables in quantitative data are checked against the questionnaire (or other research instrument), and missing data are reviewed. Detailed information on the contents of the variables and their values is added. Variable and value labels are constructed based on the questionnaire. Qualitative data are carefully reviewed to ensure that no identifiers are left in the data. We name documents systematically and check the consistency of internal metadata (file naming, labelling). All data files are converted to formats suitable for reuse and long-term preservation.

We periodically reassess the robustness of the anonymisation (residual risk assessment) and for systematic quality assessment, do cross-checks in data processing and follow our internal guidelines strictly (more information on the FSD website: Quality, Assessment and Development at the Finnish Social Science Data Archive).

Agreements on rights of use

The depositor of the research data consents to the archiving and dissemination of the dataset for reuse in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon in the archiving agreement (Opens in a new tab) PDF . In all other respects, the original creators of the data retain the copyright and related intellectual property rights to the data. We are responsible for providing access to the data and long-term preservation as well as for managing delivery of the data for reuse purposes in accordance with the archiving agreement and data protection regulations and requirements.

Data that are curated and disseminated by us have four access categories ranging A–D. Access categories are clearly defined in the archiving agreement:

  • A – openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0)
  • B – available for research, teaching and study for registered users
  • C – available for research only (including master’s and doctoral theses) for registered users
  • D – available only by permission from the data depositor/creator for registered users

As Finland’s national service provider for CESSDA we comply with CESSDA Data Access Policy (Opens in a new tab) .

Opening or restricted sharing of data

We open all our metadata under CC BY 4.0 license. On Aila Data Service, all users can search, browse, and study data descriptions, variables, and their frequencies and summary statistics. Data files for detailed analyses are available 24/7 through Aila Data Service, free of charge, in accordance with access conditions set for each dataset.

The A category datasets are freely available under the terms of the licence. All data in availability categories B and C are available and downloadable for registered customers. Researchers and students from universities and research organisations in Finland and abroad can register as customers. Registered customers can apply for a permission to access D-dataset in Aila.

A great majority of the archived datasets are in the category of B. Some researchers choose category D (separate permission needed) for predefined deadline if they have not yet published main results. After the deadline datasets are opened either in A, B or C access category. Most of the datasets that are in the category of D (separate permission needed) are longitudinal pseudonymous datasets. We have GDPR compliant procedures for archiving and delivering those datasets. Creators of the dataset (the researcher and his/her organization) remain in the role of a personal data controller. FSD acts in the role of a data processor and follows strictly according to the rules and decisions given by the controller. Longitudinal datasets are opened in A, B or C access category when the longitudinal research projects end, and the controller does not preserve personal data of the research subjects anymore.

We are committed to the principle "as open as possible, as closed as necessary". In the archiving agreement we require that the depositor declares that the data have been collected for reuse purposes in a legal and ethical manner. Since great majority of the data we archive is collected from people, access categories that researchers can choose are ethically depended on the information research subjects have been given. Researchers have the possibility of choosing which access category is the most appropriate for their research data. FSD gives exact models for informing the research subjects about data archiving in its Data Management Guidelines.

For researchers collecting and wishing to archive data that includes personal identifiers we give customized service personally to ensure the compliance with GDPR.

Researchers using our archive services can trust that their data are preserved for the long term. In addition to in-house IT solutions for backups, we utilise a national digital preservation service owned by the Ministry of Education and Culture and provided by CSC - IT Center for Science. The service is a secure cluster of resources intended specifically for the long-term preservation of cultural heritage and research data. The service is maintained by CSC, the data centres and ICT services of which are all ISO 27001 certified. The data can be transferred only back to FSD. (More information on the service’s website: Digital Preservation for Cultural Heritage and Research Organizations (Opens in a new tab) .)

Documentation and metadata

Since the very beginning 1999 FSD has used DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) which is an international standard for describing data produced by surveys and other observational methods in the social, behavioral, economic, and health sciences. In DDI, data are described using XML structures. We provide guidance for data documentation and metadata in our Data Management Guidelines. We have Step-by-step instructions for depositing and a deposit tool, which allows depositors to transfer their data files, data descriptions and other materials to FSD using a secured connection.

Thesauri and controlled vocabularies used at FSD: Controlled vocabularies developed by the DDI Alliance are used to describe the type of sampling procedure, mode of collection, time method, instrument and analysis unit used in the study. General Finnish Ontology YSO is used for study descriptions in Finnish and ELSST thesaurus for study descriptions in English. In addition, Field of study classification by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and CESSDA Topic Classification are used.

Committing to FAIR principles: All metadata can be accessed in machine readable DDI-Codebook 2.5 format in Aila. A smaller set of descriptive metadata are available in JSON-LD machine actionable format. We maintain a separate OAI-PMH server (Kuha2) to enable harvesting our metadata to different catalogues. FSD's study descriptions are harvestable in DDI Codebook, OAI Dublin Core, and EAD3 formats from Kuha2. In addition to Aila, FSD’s metadata can be found e.g. in Etsin (Opens in a new tab) , Finna (Opens in a new tab) , Research.fi (Opens in a new tab) and CESSDA (Opens in a new tab) catalogues.

Citation requirement and persistent identifiers

Respecting and citing the achievements of other researchers appropriately is a cornerstone of the responsible conduct of research. The users of data archived at FSD commit to citing the data and its original creators in the General Terms and Conditions for Data Use. We prepare a model citation for each dataset to make citing as easy as possible to users.

Registered Aila users commit to notifying FSD about any publications based on the archived data, and we list the publications based on the data in the Aila dataset description.

We assign persistent identifiers (PIDs) to all archived data in compliance with documented standards (URN and DOI). Authors will also be assigned a permanent identifier, if they have one. For individuals, the permanent identifier is ORCID, ISNI or ResearcherID. For organisations, the persistent identifier is ISNI or ROR.

Persistent identifiers ensure that data can be found even if they were transferred to a new location for some reason. A clear PID policy is part of our commitment to FAIR principles and CESSDA ERIC Persistent Identifier Policy (Opens in a new tab) .

Storage, backup, access control and certification

Access to FSD’s internal systems is restricted. The hard disk drives of computers used by FSD staff are encrypted. Electronic access to data is restricted only to server administrators of Tampere University and FSD staff with tasks involving data processing and handling.

Against possible physical damage to storage media (e.g., through hard disk failure or fire), the data on FSD's servers are backed up in accordance with the backup policy of Tampere University’s ICT Services. Back up policies and implementation are regularly reviewed. In addition, FSD has its own system to back up some of its servers. In both cases, the backup copies are stored in a data centre maintained by the University. The data centre is locked, fire-safe and under access control.

FSD is a trusted repository (CoreTrustSeal) for archiving research data for reuse. We do not offer services for research data storage or backups during the primary research.

Published on 14 April 2025