Research data management

What is research data?

• There is no consensus on the definition
• It varies according to discipline
• It varies according to the research funder

"Research data, unlike other types of information, is collected, observed, or created, for purposes of analysis to produce original research results." (University of Edinburgh)

"Research data is defined as recorded factual material commonly retained by and accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings; although the majority of such data is created in digital format, all research data is included irrespective of the format in which it is created."

(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC))

Research data may include any or all of the following:

• Documents (text, Word), spreadsheets
• Laboratory notebooks, field notebooks, diaries
• Questionnaires, transcripts, codebooks
• Audiotapes, videotapes
• Photographs, films
• Collection of digital objects acquired and generated during the process of research
• Data files
• Database contents (video, audio, text, images)
• Models, algorithms, scripts
• Contents of an application (input, output, logfiles for analysis software, simulation software, schemas)
• Methodologies and workflows
• Standard operating procedures and protocols
• Test responses

The following research records may also be important to manage during and beyond the life of a project:

• Correspondence (electronic mail and paper-based correspondence)
• Project files
• Grant applications
• Ethics applications
• Technical reports
• Research reports
• Master lists
• Signed consent forms

Why manage research data?

Researchers can personally benefit from good practice in research data management (RDM). It can:

• Ease navigation through required processes
• Protect their intellectual property
• Help locate and accurately distinguish between files/datasets
• Keep files/datasets secure
• Make it easier to share data with collaborators
• Improve the opportunities to collaborate, be published and cited, and to be given the opportunity to carry out more research.

In addition, many funders now mandate that research data should be discoverable, accessible and shareable and will have policies on how they expect research data to be managed. Check the relevant funders' web pages for information.

Open data

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) supports the principles in the Concordat on Open Research Data (PDF, 178KB) that recognise that research data should (wherever possible) be made openly available for use by others in a manner consistent with relevant legal, ethical, disciplinary and regulatory frameworks and norms, and with due regard to the cost involved.

The FAIR data principles

The ‘FAIR data principles’ were published in Scientific Data in 2016. FAIR stands for: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Following these principles will help researchers keep their research data as open as possible, as appropriate to the nature of the data and circumstances. 

What next?

• Write your data management plan
• Follow the FAIR data principles
• Keep your data secure and make sure you have back up files
• Add your data to an open access repository: e.g, Research Space (use the item type ‘Dataset’), Figshare or a discipline specific repository such as GenBank (gene data) or Archaeology Data Service.