Cambridge University Library Data Management Plans Anna Collins Cambridge University Library

What is a Data Management Plan? Outlines how data will be: Created Managed Shared Preserved It acts as a roadmap for how you will look after your data over the course of a project, and beyond

Why is it important? Good data underpin high quality research Help you - and others - find and understand your data Credible and verifiable interpretations Important for validation Long-term preservation Academic and professional recognition and reputation Sharing leads to more collaboration and citations – greater impact Funding body requirements, legal, and ethical codes of conduct

Funding body requirements “Ideas and knowledge derived from publicly-funded research must be made available and accessible for public use, interrogation and scrutiny, as widely, rapidly and effectively as practicable…The outputs from current and future research must be preserved and remain accessible for future generations.” Research Councils UK statement.pdf

Funding body requirements “Data are the main asset of economic and social research. We recognise publicly-funded research data as valuable, long-term resources that, where practical, must be made available for secondary scientific research.” “We believe that a structured approach to data management throughout the research life-cycle will enable better quality data that is ready for depositing for its further sharing. Those ESRC grant applicants who plan to generate data are responsible for preparing and submitting data management plans for their research projects as an integral part of the application… We require that the data must be made available for preparation for re-use and/or archiving with the ESRC data service providers within three months of the end of the award otherwise we will withhold the final payment.”

Several funding bodies mandate depositing data with an appropriate repository, eg ESRC Others recommend depositing data, eg Leverhulme Trust Funding body requirements

Taken from DCC ‘Overview of funders' data policies’ ources/policy-and-legal/ overview-funders-data- policies Funders’ expectations

Several funding bodies mandate depositing data with an appropriate repository, eg ESRC Others recommend depositing data, eg Leverhulme Trust Funding body requirements Taken from DCC ‘Overview of funders' data policies’ overview- funders-data-policies

“The perfect is the enemy of the good” - Voltaire Your Data Management Plan won’t be perfect – the important thing is to get started It is not a static document Change and update it as your research progresses and you understand more about your data Think about key issues that might affect your data… o …while you work on them o …in the future Ask for advice if you’re uncertain Writing a DMP

Writing a Data Management Plan Things to think about: What is/are the core dataset(s) of your research project? What will you do with the data (both physical and digital data)... …during the project? …at the end of the project? Do you know of any ethical or IPR issues?

Defining your Digital Research Data 1. Please answer the questions on the form 2. Discuss your research project and research data in groups of 3-4 Questions: Define research topic List physical data you will work with: existing research documents (eg theses, published reports), physical objects (eg samples, images), etc. Data origin: published material, physical archive held in a library, data collected at another institution, etc. Types of digital data you will derive from the physical data: text documents, scans, spread sheets, databases, etc. What types of data will you create digitally? Where will your data end up after the project? How do you look after your data? Any other issues for management and curation of your digital data? Risks? Ownership? Sharing?

Key considerations for a DMP DCC: Context Data Types, Formats, Standards & Capture Methods Ethics &IP Access, Data Sharing & Re-use Short-term storage & data management Deposit and long-term preservation Resourcing Adherence and Review Research360 (Uni. of Bath): Overview Defining your data Looking after your data Sharing your data Archiving your data Executing your plan Other Data Management Planning templates are available ComprehensiveComprehensive Good for all fundersGood for all funders StraightforwardStraightforward Good for PGRsGood for PGRs

Key considerations for a DMP 1.Overview Context & Project Information 2.Define your data Data types, formats, standards & capture methods 3.Look after your data Short-term storage & data management 4.Share your data Ethics and Intellectual Property Access, data sharing & re-use 5.Archive your data Deposit & long-term preservation 6.Carry out the plan Review

Understand your data How much data do you have? How many files/folders? How large are they? What format are your files in? Where are your data stored? If in multiple locations, how do you know which versions are the same? Are any of your data sensitive? Who else has/should have access to your data? Internal, external, during the project, at the end of the project What will happen to your data at the end of your PhD? Who might want to re-use it? (Your supervisor, other people in your group, researchers in your area, researchers in different disciplines…)

Document your data as you go If you don’t, it may become impossible for you – or someone else – to understand and re-use data later on

Documenting files Good documentation will: Provide meaningful information (eg titles, keywords) Be comprehensive and detailed Facilitate data discovery and re-use Help make detailed metadata for archiving Contain both contextual and technical information

Photo by Cennydd via flickr: Have a robust back-up strategy When you will back up What you will back up to Where you will keep your back-ups

Backing up Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe (LOCKSS): make multiple back-ups Keep back-ups in a separate place to the original Use different types of storage media, eg CDs, pen drives, networked storage, external hard drive Back-up regularly; back up often Check your back-ups periodically; refresh back-up media every few years

Who needs access to your data? Who might need it at the end of the project? Does access need to be restricted? Think about Access

Cloud-based storage & sharing Examples: GoogleDocs, Dropbox, SpiderOak … Often provide some free storage Good for sharing documents with colleagues Good for accessing files using multiple devices or from different locations Not all cloud-based storage solutions are secure Avoid use with sensitive information Consider using encryption to increase security Using cloud providers for back-up may break the terms of your grant if data need to be stored in the UK or EU

Consider what data need to be kept – and for how long Consider what data need to be destroyed – and why Selection & Appraisal

Selection Define the core data that will form the project archive Keep the core data ‘clean’ Discard unnecessary files during the project Try not to hoard multiple versions of the same file Store earlier drafts in separate folder as back-up Delete draft documents when file is finalised Err on the side of caution until after your viva! Examiners may ask to see unprocessed data that you used to make your conclusions

Send your research into the future Look into using Repositories and Data Centres for long term curation of your data Provide access Potential to link data to related articles Simplify re-use of data for research and teaching Some will allow access to data to be restricted and controlled Others will require open access to data Professional recognition Increased visibility of your research

Cambridge’s Institutional Repository Accepts: PhD theses Journal articles Software code Research data Multimedia files Images Etc… Searchable online Items will receive a persistent URL Items will be preserved in the long term

Set aside time regularly to evaluate your plan Are you keeping to the plan? If you’re not, does it need to be updated? A DMP is not a static document

Remember… “A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow” George Patton Start data management planning now!

Getting help with DMPs Jones, S. (2011). ‘How to Develop a Data Management and Sharing Plan’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online:

DMPonline

Other useful resources Main repository page: Research data management support: Contact details: Digital Curation Centre:

Acknowledgements Open Access Post-Graduate Teaching Materials for Research Data Management Adapted by Anna Collins (2012) from modules created by Lindsay Lloyd-Smith (2011) for post-graduate training in Archaeology It makes use of training materials produced by the UK Data Archive on Managing and Sharing Data Creative Commons Licence The teaching materials are released under Creative Commons licence 2.0 BY-NC-SA. You are free to re-use, adapt, and build-upon the work for educational purposes. The material may not be used for commercial purposes outside of education. If the material is modified and further distributed it must be released under a similar Creative Commons licence.