This slideshow was used in a Preparing Your Research Data for the Future course taught in the Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, on 2015-06-08. It provides an overview of some key issues, focusing on long-term data management, sharing, and curation.

1. Slides provided by the Research Support
Team, IT Services, University of Oxford
Preparing Your Research Data
for the Future
What You Can Do Now to Avoid
Problems Later

2. What does data include?
“A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized
manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.”
Digital Curation Centre
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

3. What does data include?
Any information you use in your
research
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

4. What is research data management?
Storage
Organizing
Preservation
Documenting
Sharing
Choosing
technology
Versioning
Structuring
Backing up
Curation
Security
Preparing your research
data for the future

5. Thinking ahead is vital
 Easy to think of long term data
management as only relevant to the end
of a project
 But many aspects
need planning from the
beginning
Preparing your research
data for the future

6. Carrots and sticks
 Work efficiently and
with minimum hassle
over the lifetime of the
project
 Save time and avoid
problems in the future
 Make it easy to share
your data
 University of Oxford
Policy on the
Management of
Research Data and
Records
 Funding body
requirements
Preparing your research
data for the future

7. University of Oxford policy
Introduced July 2012
Preparing your research
data for the future

8. University of Oxford policy
 Full policy can be viewed on the Research Data
Oxford website
 Covers the information needed ‘to support or
validate a research project’s observations, findings
or outputs’
 Research data should be:
 Accurate, complete, identifiable,
retrievable, and securely stored
 Able to be made available to others
Preparing your research
data for the future

9. University of Oxford policy
 Research data should be retained for ‘as long as they
are of continuing value to the researcher and the wider
research community’ – but a minimum of three years
 Specific requirements from funders take precedence
 Researchers are responsible for:
 Developing and documenting clear data management
procedures
 Planning for the ongoing custodianship of their data
 Ensuring legal, ethical, and funding body requirements are met
 Policy applies to University staff and doctoral students
Preparing your research
data for the future

10. Funders’ requirements
 Funders are increasingly interested in data
 Common requirements include:
 Data sharing/publication at end of project
 Data management plans with
grant applications
 Research Data Oxford website
gives a summary of requirements
Preparing your research
data for the future

11. Funders’ data sharing requirements
 Data should be made available in a timely and
responsible manner
 Limited period of privileged access permitted, but release
usually expected no later than publication of main findings
 Sharing with as few restrictions as possible is encouraged
 RCUK-funded research publications should include statement
of how and on what terms underlying data can be accessed
 Data to be securely preserved for a specified number of years
Preparing your research
data for the future

12. Why share data? Reuse
 Reduces duplication of
effort
 Allows public research
funding to be used more
effectively
 Use in contexts not
currently envisaged
 Extend research beyond
your discipline
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

13. Why share data? Reputation
 Get credit for high quality
research
 Recognition for contribution
to research community
 Open data leads to increased
citations
 Of the data itself
 Of associated papers
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

14. Why share data? Be a trailblazer!
 A paradigm shift in how research outputs are
viewed is occurring
 Data outputs are of increasing importance –
and are likely to become even more so
 E.g. journals looking to publish
datasets alongside articles
 Be at the forefront of an
important shift in the
academic world
Preparing your research
data for the future

15. But my data is sensitive…
 Funder requirements acknowledge not
everything can be shared
 But they expect serious efforts to be
made to share as much as possible
 Anonymized, redacted, or
aggregated data
 Sensitive data made available
under strict access conditions
Preparing your research
data for the future

16. Plan for sharing from the beginning
 Appropriate consent from research subjects
 UK Data Archive provides sample consent forms
 Third party data?
 Ensure new data can
be distinguished
 Discuss options with
data provider
Preparing your research
data for the future

17. DOCUMENTATION AND
METADATA
Preparing your research
data for the future

18. Documentation and metadata
 Documentation is the contextual information
required to make data intelligible and aid
interpretation
 A users’ guide to your data
 May be given at study level or data level
 Metadata is similar, but usually more structured
 Conforms to set standards
 Machine readable
Preparing your research
data for the future

19. Make material understandable
What’s obvious
now might not
be in a few
months, years,
decades…
Adapted from ‘Clay Tablets with Linear B Script’ by Dennis, via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5692813531/
MAKE SURE
YOU CAN
UNDERSTAND
IT LATER
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

20. Make material verifiable and reusable
• Detailing methods helps
people understand what
you did
• And helps make your
work reproducible
• Provide context to
minimize the risk of
misunderstanding or
misuse
Image by woodleywonderworks , via Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4588700881/
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

21. Preparing your research
data for the future

22. Exercise
 In small groups, look at the sample data sheet
 Imagine you have just acquired a copy of this dataset
 What contextual or explanatory information is missing?
 Anything odd about the data that needs clarifying?
 What additional documentation
would you like to see supplied
 At the data level?
 At the study level?
Preparing your research
data for the future

23. Preparing your research
data for the future

24. • Who created it, when and why
• Description of the item
• Methodology and methods
• Units of measurement
• Definitions of jargon,
acronyms and code
• References to related data
Documentation – what to include
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future

25. Metadata – data about data
 A formal,
structured
description
of a dataset
 Used by
archives
to create
catalogue
records
Preparing your research
data for the future

26. ISA tools software suite
http://isa-tools.org/
Open source
metadata
tracking tools
for the life
sciences
Preparing your research
data for the future

27. Missing metadata – or the riddle of the
sixth toe
 This painting shows
Georgiana, Duchess of
Devonshire as Diana
 … or maybe Cynthia
 She has six toes – but
no one knows why
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgiana_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_Devonshire_as_Diana.jpg
Preparing your research
data for the future

28. KEEPING YOUR DATA SAFE
Preparing your research
data for the future

29. http://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/08/01/why-you-need-a-data-management-plan/
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project
Preparing your research
data for the future
You can only
preserve what
you still have…
… and backing
up is easier
than replacing
lost data

30. Make multiple copies…
…and keep them in different places
Automate the
process if you can
Preparing your research
data for the future
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project

31. IT Services: Data Back-up on the HFS
 HFS is Oxford’s central back-up and archiving
service
 Free of charge to University staff and
postgraduates
 Automated back-ups of machines connected to
University network
 Copies kept in multiple places
 http://www.it.ox.ac.uk/hfs
Preparing your research
data for the future

32. Think about your storage media…
Preparing your research
data for the future
… and about file formats
Slide adapted from
the PrePARe Project

33. Data security
 If you’re working with sensitive data, it’s
essential to ensure that every copy kept has
appropriate security
 InfoSec at IT Services can provide advice
 http://www.it.ox.ac.uk/infosec/
Preparing your research
data for the future

34. For discussion
 What data management
challenges have you
encountered?
 What strategies have you
personally found useful?
Preparing your research
data for the future

35. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END
OF THE PROJECT?
Preparing your research
data for the future

36. Video by NYU Health Sciences Libraries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2zK3sAtr-4
Preparing your research
data for the future

37. Data repositories and archives
 A secure long-term home for research data
 Most offer the ability to impose appropriate
access restrictions and/or embargos
 Data is discoverable and citeable
Preparing your research
data for the future
Re3Data.org is
a searchable
catalogue
of repositories

38. ORA-Data
 The University of Oxford’s institutional data archive
 Currently in pilot phase - full launch in summer 2015
 Will sit alongside existing ORA publications archive
 Long term preservation for Oxford research datasets
without another natural home
 Researchers depositing data
elsewhere strongly encouraged
to add a record to ORA-Data
 http://ox.libguides.com/
about-ora-data
Preparing your research
data for the future

39. Figshare – a DIY option
 Figshare is a free online data sharing platform
 Shared research is allocated a DataCite DOI
 But no quality control – and future not guaranteed
 A possible alternative to conventional repositories
 Where no suitable
repository is available
 If you need a data
sharing solution in
a hurry
Preparing your research
data for the future

40. Data licensing
 A licence clarifies the conditions for accessing
and making use of a dataset
 Lets users know
 What’s allowed without asking further
permission
 How to cite the work
 Specific requests to go beyond the
terms of the licence can still be made
Preparing your research
data for the future

41. Data licences - examples
 Creative Common licences
 Widely used and recognized
 Six different flavours, plus CC0
public domain dedication
 Open Data Commons
 Specifically designed for datasets
 Recognizes the structure/content
distinction for databases
Preparing your research
data for the future

42. Data licensing - guidance
 ‘How to License Research Data’
 A guide from the Digital Curation Centre
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/license-research-data
Preparing your research
data for the future

43. DATA MANAGEMENT
PLANNING
Preparing your research
data for the future

44. Data management plans
 Ideally created in the early stages of a project
 While planning, applying for funding, or setting up
 Initial plan may be expanded later
 Details plans and expectations for data
 Nature of data and its creation or
acquisition
 Storage and security
 Preservation and sharing
Preparing your research
data for the future

45. Exercise
 Have a go at drafting a data management plan
for your own research
 If there are questions you can’t answer at this
stage, make a note of
 What you need to find out
 Decisions you need to make
Preparing your research
data for the future

46. DMP Online
 Create a data
management plan
using the DMP
Online tool
 Developed by the
DCC – a national
service providing
advice and
resources
https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
Preparing your research
data for the future

47. ‘In preparing for
battle, I have always
found that plans are
useless but planning
is indispensable.’
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preparing your research
data for the future

48. FURTHER INFORMATION AND
RESOURCES
Preparing your research
data for the future

49. Research Data Oxford website
 Oxford’s central
advisory website
 University policy
is available
 Questions?
Email
researchdata
@ox.ac.uk
http://researchdata.ox.ac.uk/
Preparing your research
data for the future

50. IT Services: Research Support Team
Preparing your research
data for the future
 Can assist with technical aspects of research
projects at all stages of the project lifecycle
 Help with DMPs, selecting software or storage,
building a database, etc.
 Meet with someone for a
research data health check
 For more information, see:
http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/

51. Research Skills Toolkit
 Website and hands-
on workshops
 A guide to software,
University services,
and other tools and
resources for
research
Preparing your research
data for the future
http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/

52. IT Learning Programme
 Over 200 different IT
courses
 Covering software, skills,
and new technologies
 ITLP Portfolio offers
course materials and
other resources
Preparing your research
data for the future
http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/
http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/

53. ORDS – Online Research Database
Service
 Specifically designed for academic research data
 Create, edit, search, and share databases online
 Cloud-hosted and automatically backed up
 Designed to make key tasks
straightforward
 Collaboration
 Publishing datasets
 Archiving at end of project
Preparing your research
data for the future
http://ords.ox.ac.uk/

54. Research Integrity courses on WebLearn
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/skills/ricourses
Preparing your research
data for the future

55. UK Data Archive
 Advice on best
practice for creating,
preparing, storing
and sharing data
 Covers consent and
ethics for sensitive
data
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/
Preparing your research
data for the future

56. Research Data MANTRA
 Free online
interactive
training modules
 Aimed at
postgraduates
and early career
researchers
http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/
Preparing your research
data for the future

57. Any questions?
Ask now, or email us on
researchdata@ox.ac.uk
Slides and handouts available from
http://research.it.ox.ac.uk/rdmcourses
Preparing your research
data for the future

58. Rights and re-use
 This presentation is part of a series of research data management
training resources prepared by the IT Services Research Support
Team at the University of Oxford
 The slideshow is based on one developed during the Oxford-based
DaMaRO Project. Parts of it also draw on teaching materials
produced by the PrePARe Project, DATUM for Health, and DataTrain
Archaeology
 With the exception of clip art used with permission from Microsoft,
commercial logos and trademarks, and images specifically credited
to other sources, the slideshow is made available under a Creative
Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License
 Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing,
adaptation, and re-use of this material
Preparing your research
data for the future