• All research records (including data) must be archived at the University in accordance with Pitt Policy RI-14, Research Data Management.  An inventory must also be included in the archived materials, allowing the content of the archive to be easily discerned.  Optimally, the inventory will allow identification and retrieval of materials related to each published study.
   
• Investigators are permitted to take copies of the research records only if an agreement executed through the Office of Sponsored Programs is in place between Pitt and the new institution employing the investigator.
   
• If collaborators at the University may need access to research records in the future, they should be transferred to those collaborators, who will become the custodians of the records.
   
• An archiving service is available to secure electronic records for departing investigators to meet the University’s data retention requirements, provided the archived records will not subsequently be needed by the investigators or their collaborators.  If access to data will be needed in the future, investigators may take a copy (with an appropriate agreement), and collaborators at the University should also be provided a copy.  Alternately, a responsible individual in a department or school may archive the electronic research records for a departing investigator.
   
• Many hard-copy records can be digitized using the Perceptive Content / ImageNow service managed through Pitt IT.  
   
• Materials that cannot be converted to electronic format may be archived in repositories managed by the investigator’s department.  The University Library System also provides information about services for archiving of research materials.