Typical questions

• • What is a data management plan?

• • Can you give me some advice on where to store my data safely?

Starting points

• Research data management is concerned with the effective management of data at all stages of the research life cycle from planning to dissemination. Questions have become increasingly common due to requirements of funding councils for data management plans to be provided in advance. Many universities have designated library staff who specialise in this. This chapter aims to provide general starting points to supplement this.

• Research data is defined broadly to include any records, files and outputs that are related to the work of a research project. They can also include third party materials that have been examined. Materials can be in any physical or electronic format.

• Requirements can differ. Always find out if the plan is required by a specific funder and refer first to any advice provided on their website. Individual institutions may also have research ethics and data deposit agreements, which should also be consulted. However, generally good research data management plans cover:

• • Data collection – standards and methodology.

• • Data documentation – standards and metadata required so others can retrieve the data.

• • Ethics and legal compliance – this includes consideration of any future licensing for reuse.

• • Storage and backup procedures.

• • Long-term preservation plans – what will be stored and how will users access it?

• • Data sharing – who will be able to reuse the data in the future?

• • Resources that will be required to deliver the plan.

• Users may also find the advice in the Copyright and Publishing chapters useful.

Recommended resources

Funder requirements

UK Research and Innovation

www.ukri.org

Provides information about and links to the UK's main research councils. These include the Medical Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council. Consult the individual websites for detailed advice.

Other common funders include:

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) – www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers European Commission (EC) – ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation_en

The Wellcome Trust – wellcome.ac.uk/funding/guidance

Key organisations

Digital Curation Centre

www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/data-management-plans

A national service providing advice on all aspects of research curation. Has an excellent collection of free resources for researchers. These include summaries of UK funders’ policies, a checklist of key elements required in a plan and successful examples.

Study guides

DMPTool

dmptool.org

A free, open-source site that helps researchers create data management plans.