Disseminating (Sharing) your research securely
Guidance for researchers (including PGRs) planning to publish (articles, data, software) or attend conferences and whose research is in sensitive areas and/or may involve controlled materials.
Under the UK Trusted Research Evaluation Framework (TREF), you must evaluate whether information in your publication or conference presentation can or should be made public. The act of disseminating itself (whether publishing or presenting) can be an illegal export if the material contains controlled strategic technology.
Definitions
| For the purpose of this guidance: | |
|---|---|
| Dissemination | refers to any act of public sharing, including scholarly publication, deposit in an open repository, release as a pre-print, or pre-publication sharing (eg with peer reviewers). |
| Non-textual outputs | datasets, source code, software, CAD models, algorithms, or engineering designs |
| Publication | refers to textual and non-textual outputs as well as conference presentations and abstracts. |
| Textual outputs | journal articles (incl. pre-prints), conference proceedings, book chapters, reports or monographs |
The Core Assessment
If your publication allows a non-UK party to do any of the following, it cannot be published without a formal compliance review.
- Replicate Controlled Technology: Allows the direct replication or manufacturing of controlled goods (items or software) without further novel academic material or input.
- Provide a Functional "How-To": Contains raw parameters, unmasked sensor data, exact dimensions, or operational code that cuts out standard research and development hurdles for a dual-use or military technology.
- Compromise National Security: Contains intellectual property or data that could be leveraged by a state-backed actor or foreign multinational to undermine UK national security resilience.
Before any dissemination activity, you must evaluate if the publication contains intellectual property (IP), "know-how", data, or technical specifications regulated by the UK Strategic Export Controls List which provides descriptions of controlled goods. This includes military goods and dual-use items (goods, software, information and technology that could be used for civil or military purposes). Visit the Research Compliance Sharepoint site for more information.
The Risk Area: Pre-publication sharing or disseminating controlled material is an export
The law draws a hard line between publicly available materials and unpublished materials. Therefore, if the material is controlled, sharing it for review before dissemination requires an export licence.
Before you deposit to a pre-print repository, submit to a journal for peer review, or share materials with a publisher for any other publishing opportunity, you must evaluate the publication.
Sending an unpublished manuscript to a non-UK publisher and/or an overseas peer reviewer is legally an export. The identity of peer reviewers is not usually known by the author and publishers invite peer review from a global community.
Before you upload code/data to an open repository, submit to a repository for peer review, or share internationally, you must evaluate the publication.
Sending an unpublished dataset, a novel algorithm, or functional software to a non-UK publisher and/or an overseas peer reviewer, or an international repository before it is made completely public is legally an export.
Before you submit a conference abstract or deliver a conference presentation, you must evaluate the publication.
Sending a conference abstract for review or delivering a conference presentation outside the UK and/or to a non-UK resident audience is legally an export.
Exceptions for Academic Research
The law permits exceptions for some areas of academic research. Your research and dissemination activities may not be in scope of these exceptions, and you should always complete a Research Compliance Initial Assessment to understand your obligations before disseminating your research.
Public Domain
The act of publishing information, data, an article, or other material in a format that is available to anyone without restriction (except copyright) effectively moves material to a “de-controlled” status, whether this is via an open repository, a pre-print server, in a journal, or in a long-form format.
Material which is already in the public domain can normally be included in your publication provided there are no restrictions on its further dissemination.
Attempting to ‘de-control’ the information by including it in a publication to release it into the public domain is not permitted.
Basic Scientific Research
This is generally experimental or theoretical work which is not directed towards a specific (short-term) practical aim or to address a specific technical problem. Instead, the sole purpose is obtaining new knowledge, without a specific application.
By definition military listed technology is for a specific application, and therefore is not basic scientific research.
Exceptions do not always apply
If the material is subject to the Official Secrets Act or MOD/government security classifications (eg commercially confidential information), the material is otherwise classified, or there are end-user concerns related to the material (eg industry partners or collaborators based in high-risk nations), these exceptions do not apply.
How to safely manage your publication
If material in your publication is flagged as a risk, you have options to safely manage the output and disseminate your research outcomes.
Modify to Publish (Abstraction): Alter the publication so it no longer contains the sensitive material and is suitable for pre-publication sharing, release as a pre-print, or other public dissemination.
- Generalise: consider removing actionable “how to” information that could permit replication of specific processes, for example:
- Present normalised, aggregated, or lower-resolution data rather than the raw, high-precision datasets
- Publish the conceptual framework, math models, or pseudocode rather than the fully compiled, optimised functional software or script.
- Focus on Theory: publish the conceptual framework, math models, or pseudocode rather than the fully compiled, optimised functional software, script, or processes.
Restrict Access (Do Not Publicly Share): If the raw data is critical but controlled, it cannot be openly published. Access must be restricted within a secure data environment with strict user-access agreements. Contact the Research Support Team to discuss secure deposit options.
Assess the risk of non-compliance (conferences only): If the material in a conference abstract or presentation cannot be modified to mitigate the risk, consider whether your publication presents an acceptable level of risk of non-compliance to you and/or the University (review the UKRI Trusted Research principles and key Trusted Research in Academia issues guidance). If in doubt, contact the Research Compliance team.
Apply for a Licence: Work with the Research Compliance Team to secure an export licence before sharing the unpublished work with overseas reviewers or publishers.
Funder Mandates vs National Security
Open Research (Open Science) and Open Data mandates from funders are strongly supported by universities, but national security legislation and export control laws legally override any funder requirements to share data openly.
If you have any concerns about research security and meeting your funder requirements, please contact the Research Support team to discuss further.
Actions for you to take
Training: Complete the Essential Training: Export Controls training course.
The National Protective Security Authority has also produced Trusted Research Guidance for Academia.
Initial Assessment: Complete an Initial Assessment for your specific project. The Research Compliance team will review your responses and provide advice.
Contact: If material in your publication fits any high-risk category or was generated via an industry-funded or international partnership:
Contact the Research Compliance Team before any external submission. This includes PGR dissertations (theses) which may need to be shared with overseas examiners and/or which may require restricted deposit in a secure facility to prevent public access.
Contact the Research Support Team for advice on abstraction, thesis restriction options, or other dissemination questions.
Further information: Review the Research Compliance Sharepoint site.