For personalised RDM support book a consultation with the Research Data Management librarian.
Research Data Management (RDM) is researchers taking responsibility for the storage, security and retention of data collected during and after the course of their research and ensuring that data is adequately described and understandable by anyone who may need to view it in the future.
RDM is important for researchers various reasons:
Publishing/Funding Requirements | Journal publishers are increasingly requiring research data to be made available at publication, or a Data Availabilty Statement (or Data Access Statement) that outlines the availability of the research data and associated rights statements. |
Research Integrity | It is a matter of research integrity that the primary data must be available if the research is questioned. Reputational damage may occur if the data cannot be found. This media release from an Australian university is about primary data not being found which lead the university to request an article retraction, returning the funding, and investigation and review of other papers by the researchers. |
Increased Research Impact | Research data is a valuable part of the research may be considered a citeable output in the same way as a journal article or other publication. |
UGent Open Science. Knowledge clip: What is Research Data Management (RDM)? (3:30)
The section of 'the Code' titled 'Management of Data and Information in Research' clearly lays out responsibilities of institutions and researchers on data management. The following are brief excerpts from the named and linked chapter. It is advisable to read the entire chapter to fully understand the responsibilities.
3.1 Retention and publication
The central aims of retention of data and information are to enable the justification of outcomes of the research and the facilitation of sharing of research data.
Researchers have primary responsibility for deciding which research data and primary materials are candidates for long-term retention and wider accessibility.
3.2 Managing confidential and other sensitive information
Researchers must exercise care in handling confidential or other sensitive information used in or arising from a research project.