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Researcher Services and Support: Managing Your Data

Thinking of publishing? This guide contains everything you need to know about the publishing lifecycle, copyright, self-archiving, and promoting your research.

What is a Data Management Plan?

Most government agencies that fund research require those who receive grants to create a data management plan as part of the grant request process. 

A complete data management plan addresses the following:

  • Data Collection - collecting data that is reliable and valid.
  • Data Storage - collecting and storing the appropriate amount of data such that your research can be reconstructed.
  • Data Analysis - the interpretation of your data, how conclusions are derived from data.
  • Data Protection - insuring that sensitive data is not tampered with or stolen.
  • Data Ownership - the legal rights pertaining to your data.
  • Data Retention - determining how long data must be kept and how to properly destroy sensitive data.
  • Data Reporting - publication of data.
  • Data Sharing - sharing data with other researchers and the general public; when you should not share data.

Adapted from: Office of Research Integrity.  Guidelines for Responsible Data Management in Scientific Research.  Retrieved from http://ori.hhs.gov/images/ddblock/data.pdf

Data Management: A Cautionary Tale

A data management horror story by Karen Hanson, Alisa Surkis and Karen Yacobucci of NYU Health Sciences Library. This is what shouldn't happen when a researcher makes a data sharing request! Topics include storage, documentation, and file formats.