… because good research needs good data

Data management: why should it

matter to me?
Joy Davidson
DCC, University of Glasgow
j.davidson@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk

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 … because good research needs good data

What is data management and curation?

Data management and curation involves caring for,
facilitating access to, preserving and adding value
to digital research data throughout its lifecycle.

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What kind of data might be involved?

• models and visualisations
• Workflows (Taverna, MyExperiment)
• databases
• raw data (captured from instruments)
• cleaned data (anonymised)
• correspondence (blog posts, emails, tweets)
• web pages/sites (text, images, links, e.g., Facebook)
• publications
• project plans, ethics and data protection forms

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What kind of activities are involved?

• producing and sharing of data with research colleagues in collaborative
environments (internal and external)
• file naming
• applying metadata for context and discovery
• ensuring that sensitive data is not shared or accessible
• cleaning data for longer-term use
• selecting mechanisms for data capture and storage
• selecting and appraising data for short and longer-term retention
• licensing data for reuse
• developing data management plans
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 … because good research needs good data

The challenge for researchers

• meeting Research Councils and funding bodies’ requirements

• adhering to disciplinary and/or institutional codes of practice and

policies

• maintaining their own reputations as well as that of their institutions

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 … because good research needs good data

Research Councils and

Funding Bodies

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New RCUK Principles: in a nutshell

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx
• Publicly funded research data should be made openly available
• Data with acknowledged long-term value should be preserved and remain
accessible and usable for future research (selection and appraisal).
• Metadata should be recorded to enable other researchers to find and
understand the research to enable re-use (discovery).
• Published results should always include information on how to access the
supporting data (linking).
• All users of research data should cite their sources (acknowledgement and
rewards).
• Portions of grants may be allocated towards data management and
sharing (costs).
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 … because good research needs good data

Lots of requirements but not much support!

Funders’ data policies

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies
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Implications for researchers

• Increasing number of research councils and funding bodies with data
management and sharing requirements
• Potential loss of research income if these mandates are not met
• Need to determine costs associated with short and longer-term
management and curation to request this as part of grant
• Responsibility for infrastructure shifting more to HEIs and less to
places of deposit (e.g., AHDS) – does your institution have adequate
infrastructure and services?
• Need guidance - some good external support (e.g., UKDA guidance)
• But also need more local support (draw upon existing channels within
your institution wherever possible)
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 … because good research needs good data

Institutional Perspective

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Institutional drivers
• Safeguarding research integrity
• Increasing number of FoI requests for data
• Adhering to existing codes of research practice and ethics
• Developing new institution-wide strategies, policies and services for
data storage and management (Edinburgh, Manchester and Oxford
good examples, UMF applications)
• Benchmarking – self-assessing infrastructure and planning for
improvement
• More demands but less resources to work with – tricky balance
(Incremental project)
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What can you do?

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Audit your holdings

• First things first - define your requirements (what do you need to
do your research and manage your data?)
• Scope out what data you have (how much, where is it stored, in
what formats)
• Think about how your data might grow over the next two-five
years (scale)
• Data Asset Framework can be helpful for this activity
• helps you to identify current data management activity, data
holdings and data management requirements
http://www.data-audit.eu/tool/
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 … because good research needs good data

Review existing institutional codes of

practice and policies
• Make sure you understand what is expected of you by your
institution
• Familiarise yourself with central support systems and identify
any gaps in provision
• Flag problem areas to senior management (risk)

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 … because good research needs good data

GU Code of Good Research Practice

The University expects researchers to observe the standards of
practice set out in guidelines published by funding bodies, scientific
societies and other relevant professional bodies. The receipt of
funding from these agencies requires the University to confirm
compliance with their terms and conditions; it is therefore essential
that all researchers are aware of their responsibility to observe
these standards during their work.

This code of good practice in research is intended for all staff,

including persons with honorary positions, and students carrying out
research at, or on behalf of, the University.

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GU Code of Good Research Practice

Not just publications!

researchers are required to keep clear and accurate records of the

procedures followed and of the results obtained, including interim
results. This is necessary not only as a means of demonstrating
proper research practice, but also in case questions are
subsequently asked about either the conduct of the research or
the results obtained. For similar reasons, data generated in the
course of research must be kept securely in paper and/or an
appropriate electronic format. The University expects such data to
be securely held for a period of ten years after the completion of a
research project, unless otherwise specified by the research funder
or sponsor.
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University of Cambridge's Guidelines on

Good Research Practice
Data generated in the course of research should be kept securely
in paper or electronic format, as appropriate. Back-up records
should always be kept for data stored on a computer. The AMRC
considers a minimum of ten years to be an appropriate period.
However, research based on clinical samples or relating to public
health may require longer storage to allow for long-term follow-up
to occur.

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/research/documents/research/Good_Research_Practice.pd
f
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University of Cambridge's Guidelines on

Good Research Practice
Researchers should keep clear and accurate records of the
procedures followed and the approvals granted during the
research process including records of the interim results
obtained as well as of the final research outcomes. This is
necessary not only as a means of demonstrating proper
research practice, but also in case questions are subsequently
asked about either the conduct of the research or the results
obtained.

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Training
GU code of Good Research Practice:
It is the responsibility of the University to ensure that there are
adequate provisions for training and development to enable
research staff to attain necessary skills for their current role, and to
support their future career development.

University of Cambridge's Guidelines on Good Research Practice:

Guidelines include a number of areas where training is offered by the
institution - including a data management - to help researchers adhere
to good research practice. The University expects researchers to
undertake appropriate training on offer.

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 … because good research needs good data

Openness and Impact

University of Cambridge's Guidelines on Good Research
Practice specifies:

Once results have been published, the University expects

researchers to make available relevant data and materials to
other researchers, on request, provided that this is consistent
with any ethical approvals and consents which cover the data
and materials, and any intellectual property rights in them.

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 … because good research needs good data

License your data

• Make reuse clear and simple by applying an appropriate licence
• Helps avoid confusion over how/if data can be used which may
increase citations
• Check with legal expert at your institution
• Make use of DCC How-to Guide
• JISC Legal offer useful guidance as well

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 … because good research needs good data

Selection and Appraisal

• Assess what you want/need to keep and what you
don’t need to keep (or can’t keep for legal reasons)
• Work with information specialists at your library or
archive – they can help you to decide
• Make use of DCC How-to Guide on Appraisal

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 … because good research needs good data

Develop a data management plan

• A data management plan can help you to be clear about the
data you’re producing, what can be done with it (and what
can’t), and how long you have to preserve access to it.
• Data management planning checklist and DMP Online and our
new How-to Develop a Data Management Plan guide are useful
resources.
• More on data management planning and DMP Online from
Martin in the next session.

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Benchmarking
• Consider undertaking an assessment of your data management
support at the department or research group level
• Involve a range of stakeholders; perceptions on activity and support
can vary greatly
• Set goals for improvement and assign actions and responsibilities
• Collaboratively plan for improvement
• Collaborative Assessment of Research Data Infrastructure
and Objectives (CARDIO) can be useful

http://cardio.dcc.ac.uk/
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Conclusions
• A lot of demands on researchers – understand what
you need to do and what you need to be able to do it
• Less resources available - make use of what is there
and look to fill gaps in service provision (JISC 07/11
projects, UMF work may offer cost-effective shared
solutions)
• Communicate – most activities can’t be done in
isolation. Talk to colleagues, central services, senior
management and with other institutions
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 … because good research needs good data

Thanks
Any questions?

Joy Davidson –
joy.davidson@glasgow.ac.uk

http://www.dcc.ac.uk
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