Project design overview
Source: Illustration of project design overview. The Turing Way Community. This illustration is created by Scriberia with The Turing Way community, used under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3332807

Individual Researcher Checklist

  • Set up a Data Management Plan to decide how the data is managed. This is especially relevant if you collect sensitive data and need to plan for consent for sharing! 
  • Document everything and keep the documentation with the data to ensure your data is reusable. 
  • Try not to re-invent the wheel. Before you start creating a new schema, storage format or naming protocol, try to find an existing tool: have a (quick) internet search or ask your colleagues. 
  • Something that is already being used is likely to be better in the long run. 

See also the ICAC-CERCA checklist

Research Data Management Best Practices

Go

Research Team Checklist  

  • Discuss the checklist with your team!   
  • Every member of the research team is able to find and use the data, code, documentation and other materials related to this project (project’s research materials).   
  • We will continue to do so ten years from now.   
  • Our documentation is maintained and reviewed regularly.   
  • The documentation describes the data management practices of the project and includes roles and responsibilities of individual team members.   
  • We have established on/off boarding procedures.   
  • Another researcher from outside the research group but in the same field would be able to find and use the project’s research materials.   
  • We have a standardised set of data management practices, including file naming conventions and folder structures.   
  • The data is stored and backed up on recommended data storage systems.   
  • We reviewed all applicable policies (institution, funder, potential publisher).   
  • We have read through and understand other relevant agreements, licenses, or other requirements.   
  • We have sought out community standards and best practices related to our data.   
  • We have set up a Data Management Plan to help us decide what research objects will be made publicly available.  

Questions?

For more information and assistance, contact Documentation Centre and Library.

Contact

Sources:

Borghi, J., & Van Gulick, A. (2022). Promoting Open Science Through Research Data Management. Harvard Data Science Review, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1162/99608f92.9497f68e  

The Turing Way Community. Checklist. https://the-turing-way.netlify.app/reproducible-research/rdm/rdm-checklist

Last updated: 22/02/2024