Research data management policy creation

We have a draft research data management policy progressing through various working groups and then on to committees at the University. However, we could not have reached this stage without the support of staff from the Digital Curation Centre. They gave a workshop where they advised us on the points our policy should cover and directed us to appropriate policies of other universities.

The starting point was to consider RCUK’s common principles on data and how we might align our research data management policy to these principles. We then looked at examples of research data management policies from other universities. We were particularly impressed with the University of Edinburgh’s research data management policy and this provided the starting point for our own policy. Talking through this policy and  others we realised that it was possible to separate policy statements and stakeholder responsibilities. This is exactly what the University of Oxford have done in their policy on the management of research data and records. So, we have incorporated elements of this policy too.

The Digital Curation Center

We were very fortunate to have support from Digital Curation Centre (DCC) staff when devising some research data management training sessions, drafting our research data management policy and having a first look at data management planning. They facilitated three sessions to kick-start our research data management activities and these were well received by all in attendance.

We are hoping to arrange another event with the DCC in the autumn and we are looking forward to more enjoyable and rewarding sessions.

Incidentally, the DCC have a wealth of information and support on all matters relating to research data management. Some of my particular favourites at the moment are listed below.

  • Digital curation – if you want to understand what digital curation involves and why it is important take a look at this section of DCC’s website.
  • Data management plans – invaluable resources when writing a data management plan for a project or research funder.
  • Case studieswondering what other people are up to? Check out these cases studies to learn about research data management in action.