Research Data Management at TRU

If you are getting started with Research Data Management (RDM), this guide has the resources you need about data management best practices and how to get started with data management plans (DMPs).

The DMP Assistant is a great tool to get started with writing you DMP. Its template will help you scaffold and plan how you will organize, manage, and share your data.

As per the Tri-Agency RDM Policy, TRU Libraries and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies have published a Research Data Management Institutional Strategy to outline current practices and future steps for RDM at TRU.

"Research Data Management (RDM) refers to the storage, access, and preservation of data produced from a given project." This means managing your data over the entire data lifecycle, from planning and conducting the research project to backing up and storing data afterwards.

Research data is any information that has been collected, observed, generated, or created to validate original research findings. This includes, but is not limited to, field notes, questionnaires, transcripts, audiovisual materials, slides, algorithms, methodologies, and more.

A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a document that outlines what you will do with your data. It is separate from the data itself, and it is a living document. A DMP details:

• Data collection: how and what will be collected
• Documentation and metadata: how the data will be described
• Storage and backup: how the data will be stored
• Preservation: how the data will be preserved long term
• Sharing and reuse: how and if the data will be shared
• Responsibilities and resources: who will have access to the data
• Ethics and legal compliance: information about sensitive data

The main purpose of a DMP is to help the research team with the research project. A good DMP can help the team avoid losing data, increase reproducibility of results, and track the research more efficiently and effectively.

References:

• https://casrai.org/term/research-data-management/
• https://assistant.portagenetwork.ca

The Tri-Agency data management policy affirms that RDM is an important aspect of high-quality research. Therefore, they have three stages, or pillars, for institutions which receive these grants:

• Institutional Strategies: by March 2023, all institutions must have an institutional RDM strategy. This strategy will detail what the institution is doing to support RDM and a road map for the future.
• Data Management Plans: in Spring 2022, the Tri-Agency will identify which grants will require a DMP to receive funding.
• Data Deposit: no date is identified for this pillar yet, but after the first two have been implemented, the Tri-Agency will be evaluating which data must be deposited and how.

NEW! The Tri-Agency has announced the initial funding opportunities that will require applicants to submit a DMP. They are:

CIHR

• Network Grants in Skin Health and Muscular Dystrophy (Anticipated launch fall 2022 or early winter 2023)
• Virtual Care/Digital Health Team Grants (Anticipated launch fall 2022 or early winter 2023)
• Data Science for Equity (Anticipated launch fall 2022 or early winter 2023)

NSERC

• Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants - Individual and Project (Anticipated launch summer 2023)

SSHRC

• Partnership Grants Stage 2 (Anticipated launch summer 2023)

Learn more: https://science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_547652FB.html

Questions? Need help with your DMP or storage? Have a suggestion for this guide? Please get in touch!

• Erin May, Scholarly Communications LIbrarian: emay@tru.ca
• Evelyn Asiedu, RDM Postdoctoral Fellow: easiedu@tru.ca

Unless stated otherwise, this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.