## Document and Preserve

Now, your project is finished and it's time to move your data from active research storage to the archive. The archive is a long-term storage space which ensures that once the data is submitted it cannot be altered or lost. It is VU policy to archive your data for (at least) 10 years after publication. This is an important stage of research as it ensures integrity and transparency in your research.

A dataset consists of the following documents:

- Raw or cleaned data (if the cleaned data has been archived, the provenance documentation is also required)

- Project documentation

- Codebook or protocol

- Logbook or lab journal (when available, dependent on the discipline)

- Software (& version) needed to open the files when no preferred formats for the data can be provided