I’ll start with a bit of background. Public funders place increasing importance on data management planning (DMP) for research projects, with an aim to improve the longevity of research data, and enable widespread access and reuse. In the last two years a number of UK research funders (the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the Wellcome Trust) have introduced requirements that data management and sharing plans are made an integral part of each grant application [1-5]. This trend is mirrored internationally, notably by the National Science Foundation in the United States. These new requirements are part of a growing trend in research data policies that mandate or encourage the sharing of research data, especially that created thanks to public funds.
SPECIFIC ESRC SITUATION: ESRC is the major funder of social science research in the UK, and has has recently launched a new data policy [2] which continues the trend by mandating data management and sharing plans as an integral part of all research award applications that plan to generate data (from spring 2011). ESRC has a longstanding arrangement with the UK Data Archive (UKDA) as a place of deposit for research data to be archived and made available to the research community, via the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS).
In the UK, the seven publicly-funded Research Councils are grouped together under the banner organisation Research Councils UK (RCUK). All of the RCUK councils use the same online joint grant application system, the Joint e-Submission form (or Je-S) which is maintained by RCUK. The Je-S form varies depending on an applicant's chosen funder, according to the funder's data-related requirements. GIVE EXAMPLES? A FULL TABLE COULD BE WORTHWHILE AT THIS STAGE. The Je-S form is also used by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) .
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UKDA works closely with researchers on data sharing, providing data management guidance and advice through a suite of online data management guidance [6], a best practice guide [7] and regular workshops for researchers and support staff. Data management topics considered are: ethical and legal aspects of data sharing and re-use documentation and metadata to understand and use data quality control formatting data file formats and software for long-term preservation security and controlled access to data ownership and data copyright ensuring authenticity and version control storage and back-up roles and responsibilities of data management costing data management During the period 2008-2010 about 300 researchers attended workshops; manydata management queries are answered by the Archive each month (most queries relate to research ethics, the confidentiality of data, gaining consent for data archiving, or how to anonymise data) and the online guidance receives 3500 hits each month. To give some context, the ESRC funds approximately 400 research grants each year.
Support services have followed suit by developing tools and guidance for researchers to plan and implement data management throughout their work. The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) offers an online tool, DMP Online, which helps researchers develop data management plans according to their funders' requirements. Since its launch in spring 2010, the tool has attracted 412 users who have created over 450 plans. (MORE HERE ON RECENT AND PLANNED UPDATES/IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TOOL?) The DCC also organises workshops for higher education on best practices in data management planning, and joint events featuring sessions from DCC and UKDA staff have been well-received by participants. Reasons and benefits for collaboration: specialisation, cost-cutting, 'more with less'. These training events take advantage of compatible expertise: DCC expertise in tools and technology; UK Data Archive expertise in close engagement with individual researchers.
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Current discussions focus on how ESRC might monitor how plans are operationalised (e.g. monitoring annual reporting of implementation of the data management and sharing plan during annual reporting (the current ESRC data policy actually requires annual reporting on data management, but it is not yet clear how, or indeed if, ESRC will monitor this) or as part of project management; by evaluating data sharing as part of research impact / success) and how data are demonstrably well managed (in other words, measuring the success of data sharing). The UK Data Archive provides ESRC with guidance for reviewers [8], and ESRC states that data management planning experiences of applicants and reviewers will be reviewed at the end of 2011.
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In March 2011, an 'unconference' session was held at JISC's Managing Research Data (MRD) international workshop in Aston, UK. (Summary of discussions and planned future work.) For example, BBSRC recently evaluated data sharing plans (4 years after implementation) and found that researchers are doing more data sharing than was planned at the start of research. (Also talk to David McAllister at BBSRC re. final reports including data sharing details – maybe online?) The DCC and UKDA have collaborated on the provision of specialised guidance on a range of data management topics to be deployed via the DMP Online tool. Furthermore, the JISC-funded DMTPsych project has developed subject-specific data management guidance for Psychology postgraduate students which the tool will be modified to deliver alongside the default, comprehensive DCC Checklist questions, (Reference: talk to Richard Plant in Aston – will deliver soon.) Another relevant event is the Research Data Management Forum event, organised by the DCC and the Research Information Network (RIN). Held in Leicester, England in May 2011, the seventh biannual meeting addressed issues of monitoring and assessing data management plans with contributions from Research Council representatives and a keynote from RCUK Research Outputs Group. (More!) Pryor and Whyte also have a current project proposal on perceptions and efficacy of plans (?) Ongoing efforts combine the strengths of all involved, adapting DMP Online to work directly with the ESRC J-eS application form, with UKDA and DCC providing guidance for researchers to develop strong plans – and for reviewers to evaluate these. Discussion of recent conversations between UKDA/DCC/ESRC as a model for future coordination. In the longer term, this collaboration may provide a model for an integrated approach to DMP across all funders. Expand upon Pecha Kucha slides here too?
In March 2011, an 'unconference' session was held at JISC's Managing Research Data (MRD) international workshop in Aston, UK. (Summary of discussions and planned future work.) For example, BBSRC recently evaluated data sharing plans (4 years after implementation) and found that researchers are doing more data sharing than was planned at the start of research. (Also talk to David McAllister at BBSRC re. final reports including data sharing details – maybe online?) The DCC and UKDA have collaborated on the provision of specialised guidance on a range of data management topics to be deployed via the DMP Online tool. Furthermore, the JISC-funded DMTPsych project has developed subject-specific data management guidance for Psychology postgraduate students which the tool will be modified to deliver alongside the default, comprehensive DCC Checklist questions, (Reference: talk to Richard Plant in Aston – will deliver soon.) Another relevant event is the Research Data Management Forum event, organised by the DCC and the Research Information Network (RIN). Held in Leicester, England in May 2011, the seventh biannual meeting addressed issues of monitoring and assessing data management plans with contributions from Research Council representatives and a keynote from RCUK Research Outputs Group. (More!) Pryor and Whyte also have a current project proposal on perceptions and efficacy of plans (?) Ongoing efforts combine the strengths of all involved, adapting DMP Online to work directly with the ESRC J-eS application form, with UKDA and DCC providing guidance for researchers to develop strong plans – and for reviewers to evaluate these. Discussion of recent conversations between UKDA/DCC/ESRC as a model for future coordination. In the longer term, this collaboration may provide a model for an integrated approach to DMP across all funders. Expand upon Pecha Kucha slides here too?