Research data management refers to the management of research materials over the lifecycle of a research project. This includes (but is not restricted to) the following activities:
- Preparation of a data management plan for you research
- Creation of documentation to describe and augment the data
- Depositing data (and associated documentation) in a repository for long-term storage
- Making data available for sharing whenever possible
- Linking data sets with associated publications
The University of Glasgow has two policies which set out the standards expected with regards to Research Data Management – the Code of Good Practice in Research and the Good Management of Research Data Policy. Both policies apply to any member of the University community who engages in research, regardless of job level or family. If you’re conducting research into teaching methods, it may be worth familiarising yourself with these policies.
The Research Data Management Service, based in the Library, supports all members of the University to manage their research data and information in line with good practice. We provide two training courses for staff ‘Introduction to Research Data Management for Staff’, which is delivered via Moodle, and ‘Writing a Data Management Plan with DMPonline’ which is delivered as a webinar, and which can be booked through the HR self-service portal.
We also offer a review service for data management plans.
Our webpages contain a wide range of information on different aspects of data management, but we are always happy to chat over data management issues too. Contact us on research-datamanagement@glasgow.ac.uk to arrange a chat.
In addition to supporting staff, we also offer a range of training and support to students too. If you have a student who needs support with data management, please feel free to put them in touch with us.
Research involving human subjects
When conducting research with human subjects, it is crucially important to get the early set-up of the research right:
- consider all the possible uses of the data you will be collecting or creating
- considered your data protection responsibilities to the participants
- obtained consent from your participants for the uses you want to make of their data
Correct set-up will leave you in a strong position to analyse, publish and share your work. Failure to consider these aspects at the start of the project can cause future problems: from researchers having to go through a second round of ethics to get corrections approved, to being unable to share the outputs or data from your research.
We have a Project Initiation Workflow available to help researchers working with in this area. This workflow takes researchers through the necessary processes early in project set-up to ensure these requirements are met.
Other useful resources:
Our service webpages contain information on all aspects of research data management.
Developing a File-naming Convention – developing a good, robust file naming system for your documents and folders is at the heart of good data management. This how-to guide explains the structure of a good file-naming convention and takes you through things you might need to consider.
DMPonline is a web-based tool which is used to support the development of a data management plan. It contains templates and guidance for UofG data management plans, as well as for all the major funders.
The Digital Curation Centre provides expert advice and practical help on how to store, manage, protect and share digital research data. They provide a broad range of resources including online tools, guidance and training.
The UK Data Service is a comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC to support researchers, teachers and policymakers who depend on high-quality social and economic data. Although aimed at ESRC-funded researchers, their data management resources are available to all and represent the gold standard in how to work with participant data. This includes examples of consent wording and covers the legal and ethical aspects of data sharing.
Wider Library support for SOTL
In addition to supporting researchers with Research Data Management, the library also provides support for other aspects of scholarship – Open Access, search techniques for Literature Reviews, access to Research Materials, selection of appropriate Publication Outputs, Sharing your Research and understanding Research Indicators. These topics will be covered in other blogs in this series.
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