Data Management in Research Studies: An Expert's Guide

This article provides an expert's guide on how to effectively manage research data throughout its life cycle. Learn how to create consistent conventions for managing your data as well as how to embed metadata into your files.

Data Management in Research Studies: An Expert's Guide

Research data management (RDM) is a term that describes the organization, storage, preservation, and exchange of data collected and used in a research project. It involves the daily management of research data over the life of a research project, such as by using consistent file naming conventions. Data management covers all aspects of managing, organizing, documenting and improving research data. It is particularly important to facilitate data exchange, ensure long-term sustainability and accessibility of data, and allow data to be reused for the science of the future. The efficient organization of data makes monitoring project progress much smoother and puts accountability at the forefront.

Other ways to embed metadata include descriptions, for example, in the code or the tags of the file itself. The data will survive the project, so you must plan ways to share and preserve your data for posterity. Etique, for its part, hopes that the data plan it has submitted with its grant proposal will be reviewed favourably. Research data takes many forms, from measurements, numbers and images to documents and publications. By developing an effective research data management plan, you minimize data loss and unauthorized access by complying with data storage or organizational standards.

The researcher, the participant, the annotator, etc.) are a fundamental part of the data, since they may change depending on the participant. Archived research data must be accompanied by appropriate metadata that describes its origin and purpose, so that others can find, read and understand it. Making data accessible to all members of the group, even those who are not part of the team but who belong to the same discipline, can open up enormous opportunities to advance their own research. While policies and systems for making these research products available to the public are evolving (see initiatives such as CHORUS and SHARE), a requirement has been established that federally funded research data be managed, preserved and shared. Data management is an essential part of any research project. It helps ensure that data is presentable, verifiable and accessible.

It also helps researchers comply with organizational standards for data storage and organization. Furthermore, it allows researchers to share their data with other members of their discipline in order to advance their own research. Developing an effective research data management plan is key to ensuring that your project runs smoothly. This includes creating consistent conventions for managing your data throughout its life cycle. Additionally, it is important to embed metadata into your files in order to make them more easily accessible.

Finally, it is essential to plan ways to share and preserve your data for posterity.