Data preservation and trust
We ensure the authenticity, reliability and logical integrity of all our data, so we can provide usable versions for research, teaching or learning.
Our Preservation policy (PDF) is based on years of good practice and helps us meet legislative and accountability requirements and our users' expectations. We align our activities with the OAIS Reference Model, with additions and alterations which are specific to the materials we hold.
Our policy is regularly revised, and based on open and available file formats, data migration and media refreshment. It lays down strict requirements for our digital preservation activities, together with how these can best be achieved in relation to regulatory requirements, archival best practice, information security and available resources.
We are a Trusted Digital Repository and a member of the Digital Preservation Coalition. We hold and make accessible authentic and reliable versions of data through long-term preservation and provide continuous access. We also offer reliable information on how the reproducibility of research results based on our data might be affected by changes to the data.
CoreTrustSeal
We are certified by the CoreTrustSeal. Our staff are actively involved in the development and governance of the CoreTrustSeal, which promotes sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures by setting out requirements for trusted data repositories.
Trust
Our staff currently lead the Trust Working Group for the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA).
FAIR data
We make sure data are FAIR – findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
ISO certification
Information security is at the heart of our work, and we are certified to ISO 27001, the highest international security standard.
