Research Data Management Overview and Introduction

Topics What is research data management (RDM) and why is it important – National landscape and external drivers – Newcastle University response/policy/implications Data lifecycle models Problems, practical strategies and solutions Benefits and barriers 1

What is RDM? “Research data management concerns the organisation of data, from its entry to the research cycle through to the dissemination and archiving of valuable results.” Whyte & Tedds,

External drivers Research funder policies (e.g. RCUK, charities) – Require Open Access, RDM plans or 'technical appendices' Volume of digital research data or ‘big data’ Legislation and litigious environment – Data Protection Act (DPA), Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 3

University Providing excellent research infrastructure – Significant financial implications – More efficient research processes – Avoiding data loss – Benefits of data reuse Better oversight of research outputs 4

Newcastle University draft policy The draft policy principles and code of good practice for managing research data aim to: – Support good research data management practice – Maximise impact by encouraging discoverability and re-use – Facilitate compliance with legislation and funder polices – Protect intellectual property and commercialisation opportunities cyPrinciplesandCodeofGoodPractice.pdf 5

Newcastle University draft RDM policy Newcastle University draft RDM policy and Code of Good Practice available online (pdf) – gementPolicyPrinciplesandCodeofGoodPractice.pdf gementPolicyPrinciplesandCodeofGoodPractice.pdf Consider alongside other policies which may affect you and your data – dance/Policies.htm dance/Policies.htm 6

What is research data? Any material required to re-validate the results of research – Not only quantitative, tabular "hard scientific" data – Can include photographs, sculptures, letters, speeches, music… etc. No limited definition stated in Newcastle University's draft RDM policy principles & code of good practice 7

Digital – Computer hard disc/s and archive – Separate external drives – Cloud Analogue – Paper – Tapes Storing your research data 8

ACTIVITY: YOUR RESEARCH DATA What types of research data do you create and use? Where do you keep it? 9

UK Data Archive data lifecycle Creating Data Processing Data Analysing Data Preserving Data Giving access to Data Re-using Data A dataset has a longer lifespan than the research project that created it 10

CreateDocumentUseStoreSharePreserve Digital Curation Centre (DCC) data activity lifecycle A dataset has a longer lifespan than the research project that created it 11

DCC curation lifecycle model I.Full lifecycle actions Description and Representation Information, Preservation Planning, Community Watch and Participation, Curate and Preserve II.Sequential actions Conceptualise, Create or Receive, Appraise and Select, Ingest, Preservation Action, Store, Access, Use and, Reuse, Transform III.Occasional actions Dispose, Reappraise, Migrate 12

ACTIVITY: YOUR RESEARCH DATA CYCLE Can you improve your research data management? Where are the weak points? 13

Benefits for the researcher Meet funding body grant requirements Enhanced security/reduced risk of data loss Improved use of resource(s), reduced duplication, access to external datasets Verification of research publication claims Stimulation of new collaborations and research opportunities 14

Benefits for the "public good" Better value for the "public purse" Building research and knowledge Data and records are accurate, complete, authentic and reliable Comply with legal and ethical considerations Research integrity and replication 15

ACTIVITY: BARRIERS What are the barriers to participating? 16

In summary RDM concerns the careful management of data throughout its lifecycle Newcastle University is making a strong institution-wide response The benefits outweigh the barriers! 17

Acknowledgements iridium project ( Netskills ( Digital Curation Centre (DCC) ( The UK Data Archive – DaMaRO RDM Training Materials, University of Oxford – Research data MANTRA [online course], EDINA and Data Library, University of Edinburgh – services/about/organisation/edl/data-library-projects/mantra services/about/organisation/edl/data-library-projects/mantra 18