It’s good practice to start thinking about data management right from the earliest planning stages of a project. This helps the research process to go more smoothly and efficiently, and avoid problems further down the line.
- Complete a data management plan (DMP). This will help you think through the key issues relating to research data management and any costs involved.
- See the Data management planning page for more details.
- The DCC provides a handy online tool for building a plan.
- Consider what technologies you will need to use. Discuss with your colleagues, departmental IT officer, subject librarian, and the IT Services Research Support team as necessary.
- Consider where you will store the data the project collects or generates so that it can be securely shared between colleagues and collaborators. This includes any special arrangements needed for data which is confidential or otherwise sensitive.
- See the Backup, storage, and security page for more details.
- General advice about keeping data secure can be found on the University’s Information Security website.
- If you will be working with human subjects, any possible future reuse and sharing of the data needs to be considered as you plan your study and apply for ethical approval, and as you think about the sort of consent you will seek from participants.
- See the Ethical issues and data protection page for more details. The UK Data Archive also has a helpful section on Consent and ethics.
- Consult your subject librarian regarding appropriate mechanisms for preserving your data outputs and facilitating continued use beyond the project. (It may seem very early to be thinking about this, but it’s worth factoring this into your planning right from the beginning.)
- If applying for funding, confirm the project bid and budget with Research Services.
- Many data management costs can be included as part of the project budget. Different funders have differing policies on exactly what is covered.
- Check whether your funder has specific requirements with regard to data, and think about how you will ensure these can be met.
- See the Funder requirements page for more details.
- If you are planning to deposit your data in ORA-Data (the University of Oxford’s institutional data archive), bear in mind that there is likely to be a charge for doing this.
