Introduction to research data management. Presented by Natasha Simons at the C3DIS post conference workshop: Managed data – trusted research: an introduction to Research Data Management, Melbourne 31st may 2018

1. Natasha Simons
Introduction to Research Data
Management (RDM)
31 May 2018
C3DIS, Melbourne

2. Today’s workshop
Introduction to research data management – Natasha Simons
Making your data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable):
standards for describing and publishing data, linking data to other research
outputs, supporting machine readability of data and licensing your data –
Carmi Cronje and Anne Stevenson
10.30am morning tea break
How to manage your ‘working data’: data storage infrastructure, backup,
file naming and sharing - John Morrissey
Managing personal and sensitive data – Natasha Simons
Data Management Plans – Sue Cook

3. What is Research Data?
Research data means: data in the form of facts, observations,
images, computer program results, recordings, measurements
or experiences on which an argument, theory, test or
hypothesis, or another research output is based. Data may be
numerical, descriptive, visual or tactile. It may be raw, cleaned
or processed, and may be held in any format or media.
But this is only one definition
of many….
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

4. What is Research Data?
Any definition of research data is likely to depend on the
context in which the question is asked.
http://www.ands.org.au/guides/what-is-research-data
Photo by h heyerlein on Unsplash

5. What data do you collect/work with?
Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash

6. What’s Research Data Management?
Research Data Management covers the planning, collecting,
organising, managing, storage, security, backing up,
preserving, and sharing your data. It ensures that research
data are managed according to legal, statutory, ethical and
funding body requirements. Source: UQ LibGuide
Any research will require some level of data management.
Photo by imgix on Unsplash

7. Why should you care about RDM?
Good data management can:
• Increase the efficiency of your
research
• Help guarantee the quality and
authenticity of your data
• Enable the exposure of your
research outcomes through
collaboration and dissemination
• Provide for the reproducibility of
experimental and computational
outcomes
• Facilitate the validation and
verification of results. Photo by Jaron Nix on Unsplash

8. More publishers require data
A condition of
publication in a Nature
journal is that authors
are required to make
materials, data, code,
and associated
protocols promptly
available to readers
without undue
qualifications.

9. More funders require data
“We want the research we fund – like publications, data, software and
materials – to be open and accessible, so it can have the greatest possible
impact” – Wellcome Trust
https://wellcome.ac.uk/what-we-do/topics/data-sharing
NHMRC’s Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research: includes
the proper management and retention of the research data.
Australian Research Council (ARC) application forms (Discovery; Linkage) have
a short section where you are required to provide an outline of your data
management plan.
ANDS Guide: ARC applications – filling in the data management
sectionhttp://www.ands.org.au/guides/arc-guide-to-filling-in-the-dm-section

10. More government policies on data
The main purpose of the site is to encourage public access to and reuse of
public data. It was created following the Government’s Declaration of
Open Government and as a response to the Government 2.0 Taskforce
Report.

11. More institutional policies on data
The University of Sydney RDM Policy -
http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2013/337&RendNum=0 -
and RDM Procedures -
http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2014/366

12. More researchers care about data
sharing
Figshare open data survey of researchers 2017:
• 82% aware of open data sets
• 80% willing to reuse open data sets in own
research
• 60% routinely share their data (frequently or
sometimes)
• 21% have never made a data set openly available
• 74% are now curating their data for sharing
• 77% value a data citation the same as an article
Science, Digital (2017): The State of Open Data 2017 Report - Infographic.
figshare.https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5519155.v1 pp. 7-11

13. More researchers are sharing their data
More than two thirds of Wiley
researchers reported they are
now sharing their data.
Though this varies
geographically and across
research disciplines we are
seeing that more researchers
are sharing their data and
taking efforts to make it
reproducible.
Wiley Global Data Sharing
Infographic June 2017.
https://authorservices.wiley.co
m/author-resources/Journal-A
uthors/licensing-open-access/o
pen-access/data-sharing.html

14. Data sharing models
https://vimeo.com/125783029

15. Key messages
• Any definition of research data is likely to depend on the
context in which the question is asked.
• Any research will require some level of data management.
• Good data management can increase the efficiency of
your research and enable the exposure of your research
outcomes through collaboration and dissemination
• More publishers, funders, governments and institutions
require data management and sharing
• More researchers care about data sharing and are sharing
their own data
• Data sharing models can be open/shared/closed

16. Program Leader, Skills, Policy and Resources
natasha.simons@ands.org.au
@n_simons
Natasha Simons
With the exception of third party images or where otherwise indicated, this work is licensed under the Creative
Commons 4.0 International Attribution Licence.
ANDS, Nectar and RDS are supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy Program (NCRIS).