Research data management (RDM) refers to a board spectrum of active 'research lifecylce' activities and decisions made with data (or information) before, during and after a research project.
Research data management (RDM) is all about one simple thing: good research practice. It is an essential part of research integrity, has some basic principles that can be easily followed (and indeed you may already be following these) and can add to you receiving further credit for your work.
There is ever increasing amounts of data and information available to us and new ways to bring that into different aspects of the research process. This may require new ways of thinking, seeking support from places like Library Services and using tools like DMPOnline to facilitate a straightforward approach to your own RDM.
RDM can take place at any point in the research lifecycle but it is best thought of as a consideration before, during and after a research project has been completed. You will find on this page a quick stop guide to things you should consider and further links to explore.
Any piece of research requires planning and a good place to start is by using a data management plan (DMP). These are a short way to consciously document what you will be doing with the data you will be generating during any research lifecycle. It is applicable not just for research projects that are generating traditional datasets or those that involve human participants.
A DMP is a way to easily document some important information that relates to research data including:
Why bother with a DMP?
DMPs should be a beneficial aspect of needing to work with data of any kind. It should not be a last-minute rush as that will be a time-consuming and potentially introduce messy errors to the process. Taking a little bit of time at the start of the lifecycle can reap further benefits later on such as not repeating steps, knowing exactly what is required and when. It ultimately can help guard against potential catastrophes such as data loss and asscociated inregrity issues that would occur from that.
How can I start a DMP?
Everyone at Cardiff Met has access to DMPOnline. This tool is offered by the Digital Curation Service - leading experts in digital data managing. You can easily create an account for the tool by using your Cardiff Met email via the 'Create account' option.
Uisng DMPOnline
DMPOnline offers a unique way to create, review and share DMPs that meet funder and other requirements. You can search for and access publicly available DMPs to get an idea of what others have included in DMPs. If you have funder requirements for a DMP you can also access ready made templates as well. These templates also include clear guidance and hints of what needs to be included in each section to meet requirements.
Storing
It is strongly recommended that you keep origianls and copies of data generated during research projects on the university's official storage - OneDrive/SharePoint. This is often easier to use than physical storage, provides a large amount of storage for projects
OneDrive/SharePoint provides a assurd level of security, encryption and support for research data. It also offers secures way to share data with partners allowing for curated and managed access routes.
Further information about what is offered from OneDrive/SharePoint at Cardiff Met is available from Digital Services.
You should also think about defining during a project lifecycle what significant data you have - both as it relates to ongoing/future work and to think regularly about defined deletion. This will enable you to make best use of the storage available and keep project costs consistent and known.
Significant data should be keep in alignment with the Research Data Management Policy of Cardiff Met - 10 years. There may also be other conditions placed on the retention period of data dependent on funder requirements.
Sharing
You may need to share research data - either publicly or privately. You may need to share with project partners and participants during a project or with journals after finishing collection and analysis. Digital Services provide a useful guide to sharing using OneDrive/SharePoint - this is the recommended way to share privately at Cardiff Met.
There might be a requirement to share data from funded research publicly - this has become more of a normal expectation from many UK based funders in particular.
In all cases of sharing you should ensure that this is outlined and documented in an ethics application to ensure approval is sought before any data is collected. Any participants within a project should also receive full details of how their inputs into any research data collected will be shared - their informed consent is paramount.
Cardiff Met offers a one-stop shop for sharing data and information from research projects with our open research hub - figshare - thisis a plaform for any any staff member, researcher or Doctoral Researcher at Cardiff Met to share any work associated with research and any type of research output. You can share and archive research articles, datasets, presentations, research posters and videos amongst many other types of digital material. Figshare can display many different types of file to be directly accessible in the browser and the platform fully meets digital accessibility standards.
If you require specific detail about areas such as advanced storage needs, cyber security of university recommended storage or advice about private sharing then you can contact Digital Services via HALO.
There are a number of high-quality online resources available that look at RDM in more detail - these include:
Here are some useful further links that will aid you in finding out more about Research Data Management.