“Research data are data that are used as primary sources to support technical or scientific enquiry, research, scholarship, or creative practice, and that are used as evidence in the research process and/or are commonly accepted in the research community as necessary to validate research findings and results. Research data may be experimental data, observational data, operational data, third party data, public sector data, monitoring data, processed data, or repurposed data. What is considered relevant research data is often highly contextual, and determining what counts as such should be guided by disciplinary norms.”– Frequently Asked Questions Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy
Research data management is often a shared responsibility, which can involve principal investigators, co-investigators, collaborators, graduate students, data repositories, etc. In your DMP, you should describe the roles and responsibilities of those who will carry out the activities of your data management plan, whether they are individuals or organizations, and the timeframe of their responsibilities. Consider who can conduct these activities in relation to data management expertise, time commitment, training needed to carry out tasks, and other factors. Consider adding a table to denote roles and responsibilities for data management in your research project.
Expected and unexpected changes to who manages data during your project (e.g., a student graduates, research staff turnover) and after (e.g., retirement, death, agreement with data repository ends) can happen. A succession plan details how research data management responsibilities will transfer to other individuals or organizations. Consider what will happen if the principal investigator, whether you or someone else, leaves the project. In some instances, a co-investigator or the ECU Research + Industry Office can assume responsibility where necessary.
Know what resources you will need for research data management during and after your project and their estimated cost as early as possible. Many funding agencies provide financial support for data management, so check what costs they will cover. Read more on costing data management at OpenAIRE.
ECU provides users with 1 TB of storage space on their personal OneDrive. If you require more than the allotted storage space, you can contact ECU ITS. Other costs you may need to plan for include transcription, training for research team members, digitizing artwork, hosting a website, cloud storage, and depositing your data in a repository. There may be resources/software available through the ECU Library or Research + Industry Office to help with these processes. Faculty/staff should consider hiring an ECU student Research Assistant (RA) to help with research projects.
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