Facilitating external collaboration in the ANU qualtrics account

System: Qualtrics

Historically you were able to collaborate with external researchers by simply sharing the survey via a link. This form of collaboration is no longer allowed because:

  • ANU is unable to see who accounts have been shared with, this makes it impossible to communicate with those staff should the University need to advise them of changes to legislation, outages in the system, security or privacy
  • ANU is unable to meet contractual and legislative requirements by being able to show who has access to its data

Instead, ANU will require collaborators who need to access ANU systems set up to access ANU systems via the Visiting and Honorary Appointments (VaHA) process. This is done through an eform nomination and more information can be found here: https://services.anu.edu.au/information-technology/software-systems/hr-e-forms/visiting-and-honorary-appointments-vahas This process gives the collaborator access to ANU systems and requires them to agree to the ANU Code of Conduct in their interactions with the University. There are different categories of VaHA to choose depending on their relationship to the University.

Once your collaborator has been through the VaHA process and has been assigned an ANU logon they should be able to access Qualtrics using their ANU credentials. Once they are a Qualtrics user you should be able to add them as a collaborator into your research. However, there are a number of important aspects you should consider before you collaborate your research:

  • Are there any contractual requirements that prevent me sharing this research
  • Is there Personal Identifying Data Collected, if so please understand ANU Privacy Obligations before sharing
  • Is the person with whom you are sharing listed in your Data Management Plan and Ethics Proposal as entitled to access the data and do these documents allow the sharing of data in this way
  • Was there any restrictions in the participant consents or information which would prevent the research being shared in this way?
  • Is the research subject to Defence Trade Controls Legislation, can it be shared in this way?
  • Was the research undertaken by a student as part of a coursework or HDR course? Was their IP transferred to the University? Do you have the right to share their work?
  • Are there others with an interest in this research, colleagues or third party organisations with whom you may need to check before sharing?
  • Have you advised in writing the person with whom you intend to share this with as to any restrictions or guidance on how the data and research can be used relative to all the above, have you advised them of the ANU Code of Conduct and their obligations in using ANU systems
  • If you are sharing the data to facilitate its re-use have you developed a licence for its reuse that specifies the conditions for reuse
  • If the proposed recipient of the shared data was not part of the original research team are you sharing in a way that ensure the data is thoroughly de-identified and cannot be re-identified.

Once you have worked through the checklist above and have established that you have the right to share this research then you can share with the VaHA in the same way you would current share with an ANU colleague.

For help in understanding your obligations please see the following links: