UNIGE policies

You will find below the various policies and strategic guidelines of the University of Geneva concerning research data. These documents are mostly published in the Memento or on the Open Science website.

UNIGE Policy on Research Data Management

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This translation was made for information purposes and was not validated by the rectorate. In case of dispute, only the French version is binding.

Preamble

  1. This institutional policy applies to research data derived from observation, experimentation, or existing sources that are used as primary sources for scientific research and are required to validate research results[1]. It applies to research data created, or acquired for free or at a cost, in the context of research projects conducted at the University of Geneva and financed by external or internal funds.
  2. Since scientific research is largely financed by public funds, the University pays close attention to the promotion, dissemination and accessibility of research results and data generated within its walls.
  3. In order to promote and maintain the excellence of scientific research, the University recognizes the importance of the research data produced by its researchers and supports the principle of good data management throughout their life cycle in accordance with the standards in the field.
  4. Researchers, and more broadly the University, shall ensure that they retain as much control as possible over the rights to research data and do not cede them to third parties (e.g. commercial publishers).
  5. Any decision concerning the long-term preservation of research data will be based on their usefulness and quality, as well as on the possibilities of reuse. Similarly, economic, technical, legal, and administrative considerations must be considered, so that the actions to be taken for archiving and sharing are bearable by the entity in charge of this mission and, more generally, by the University.
  6. The requirements of research funding bodies are evolving, particularly in terms of open access to scientific information and research data management. To enable researchers to act in accordance with these external policies, the University will comply with them to the best of its ability.

Responsibilities of the University

  1. Infrastructure - The University aims to provide researchers, possibly in partnership with other institutions, with adequate, robust and economically viable infrastructure for the management of research data (storage space, software, etc.). It aims to ensure the maintenance and proper functioning of these infrastructures. It achieves this goal within the limits of available resources and favors, when possible, the sharing of infrastructure with other academic and scientific institutions. Some data may be preserved in storage spaces other than those offered by the University, in particular when disciplinary practices or technical or legal requirements demand it.
  2. Services and assistance - The University is committed to offering support services related to research data management for researchers, such as awareness-raising activities, good practice guides and recommendations, as well as training and personalized support for the institution's researchers. Depending on the cases, this service offer will be developed internally or in collaboration with other research institutions.

Responsibilities of researchers

  1. Responsibility - The principal investigator is the person of reference who initiates and conducts the research project. In this capacity, he/she is responsible for managing the research data of the project concerned and is accountable to the University and to the third parties concerned. He/she assumes this responsibility in close collaboration with the other researchers associated with the project.
  2. Legal and Regulatory Aspects - Researchers must comply with current legislation, contractual and academic obligations, as well as with the requirements of funders that apply to research data. If their projects involve the use of data held and made available by third parties, researchers must also comply with the licenses and terms of use for such data.
  3. Ethics and Privacy - Data that are subject to special legal and ethical requirements, such as those relating to the privacy of individuals, will be handled appropriately by researchers.
  4. Research Integrity - Researchers at the University conduct their work in accordance with the applicable rules, particularly in terms of scientific integrity[2], and in accordance with the particular practices and constraints of their discipline.
  5. Data Management - Researchers must ensure that their research data are of good quality, thoroughly described, identified, preserved and, if necessary, disseminated. In general, the use of a Data Management Plan (DMP) [3] is recommended, or even required depending on the conditions applicable to the research project concerned.
  6. Access to Research Data - Research data that have been selected by the researchers for preservation, such as those cited in a publication, will be made available as widely as possible, particularly when public funding has been received for the conduct of the research project.

[3] This document defines what data will be created and how, makes explicit the processes for preserving and sharing the data, and specifies constraints related to the nature of the data or to technical, administrative or legal restrictions.

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The Policy was written and approved in French. This is a non-binding translation.

Preamble

  1. The University of Geneva (hereinafter UNIGE) is a public research and teaching institution, whose mission is to offer quality higher education, to conduct cutting-edge research in a wide variety of disciplines and to promote the transmission of knowledge for the benefit of the community. To this end, it provides its members with up-to-date scientific information and, at the same time, disseminates the results of its research at national and international level.
  2. Open Access, i.e. free access to research results commonly disseminated in the form of publications, is based on the principle that knowledge is a public good and on the social and economic benefits that flow from its sharing. The increased visibility of freely accessible scientific results leads to an increase in their impact.
  3. The UNIGE is a co-signer of the "Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities" to promote open access to all published scientific work. It is also a signer of the "San Francisco Declaration" or DORA, which aims to renew research evaluation practices.
  4. The UNIGE pursues the goals set by the Swiss National Open Access Strategy and other major funders, such as the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), to make all publicly funded published scientific work freely accessible. These ambitions are part of the Open Science Charter which was adopted in January 2021.
  5. The present Open Access Policy is part of the UNIGE's commitment to provide free and unlimited online access to the results of research financed by UNIGE public funds and thus to contribute to the dissemination and democratization of knowledge and to the influence of its research. The UNIGE undertakes to support its researchers throughout the publication process.

Responsabilities of researchers

  1. All collaborators make their publications freely available (open access).
  2. Whenever possible, authors should prioritize Gold Open Access for the publication of their work. Publication in Hybrid Open Access journals should be avoided, as this entails a double financial burden for the institution, unless a transitional agreement has been signed including free access to articles and open access publication fees (Read & Publish agreement).
  3. They shall endeavor, whenever possible, not to transfer the rights to their publications to the publishers or to retain as many of them as possible, by negotiating amendments to publication contracts where appropriate.
  4. They choose the least restrictive license among those offered.
  5. If the publication is only available for a fee on the publisher's website, the authors keep, in addition to the published version, their accepted version to make it accessible via the Archive ouverte UNIGE. When the full text is freely accessible, this practice corresponds to the Green Open Access route.
  6. In all cases, authors deposit a digital copy of their publications in the Archive ouverte UNIGE. These deposits:
    1. should be carried out as soon as possible, preferably no later than publication date;
    2. respect the publisher's policies, the terms of the publishing contract and the rights related to the data and images insofar as such policies and contracts comply with the applicable legislation. In the event of unresolvable conflicts, authors shall select for their deposit a restricted or even closed access distribution, according to the principle of the greatest accessibility permitted by the applicable legislation;
    3. correspond to the published version (Version of Record) or the author's last version before the publisher's final layout (Accepted version; Author Accepted Manuscript); the submitted version (Preprint) is not sufficient for the Open Access obligation;
    4. cannot be substituted by publication on a website (arXiv, bioRxiv, etc.) or on academic social networks (Academia.edu, ResearchGate, etc.), even though the promotion of academic work is encouraged.
  7. In the event of an embargo on a publication, authors shall ensure that the duration of the embargo is as short as possible before release in open access.

Responsabilities of University of Geneva

  1. The University encourages and supports its authors during the different phases of open access publishing, in particular through the services offered by the Library.
  2. The University promotes the training of its members in the field of Open Access.
  3. The University participates in national and international initiatives to support and promote open access to scientific research results.
  4. The University operates and maintains an institutional archive for the storage and preservation of digital copies (Archive ouverte UNIGE) whose operation is governed by institutional and faculty guidelines.
  5. The University will cover the costs of Gold Open Access publications in addition to the SNSF and under certain conditions, in particular that the publications appear in peer-reviewed journals or are submitted to a review process.
  6. Through its Library or a dedicated organization, the University negotiates and signs agreements including Open Access publication fees with publishers with the purpose of securing financially sustainable Open Access publication opportunities in the long term.
  7. The University strongly encourages its members to engage as peer-reviewers in Gold Open Access journals.
  8. The University evaluates the research produced in-house by considering publications whose full text is deposited in its institutional archive and, with some exceptions, is freely accessible.
  9. The University regularly informs the academic community, through the usual channels, of its Open Access objectives and actions.

This policy was approved on January 24th, 2022 by the Rectorate.

The policy got a formal update on March 2025, to modify broken links.

The UNIGE Open Science Charter sets out the principles that underpin the University’s institutional commitment to Open Science, including the opening of research data (Open Research Data).

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This roadmap sets out UNIGE’s strategic vision for Open Science for 2025–2028. It defines the institutional priorities, objectives, and planned actions, particularly with regard to the opening of research data (Open Research Data).

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This policy concerns UNIGE’s institutional data, that is, all data processed and produced by the University. It therefore covers research data, as well as the data used for the University’s operations, governance, and administrative activities. It sets out the principles, roles, and responsibilities that govern their management, protection, lifecycle, and compliance across the institution.

View the policy in the Memento

This policy provides information about the personal data collected and/or processed by UNIGE in the course of its activities, including research, teaching, human resources, digital services, and administrative management. It also outlines the rights you may exercise with regard to UNIGE in connection with the processing of your personal data.

View the policy in the Memento

This implementing directive explains how LIPAD is applied at UNIGE. Its provisions are particularly relevant to research activities involving the use, disclosure, anonymisation, or processing of personal data for scientific purposes.

View the directive in the Memento

This directive concerns research collaboration agreements and service contracts concluded between UNIGE and third parties. It sets out the rules and points requiring particular attention when data, results, confidentiality obligations, or publication rights need to be addressed in an agreement, as well as the procedure to follow before any signature.

View the document in the Memento

 

Last updated on April 7 2026