Tips for researchers about data management

On its web site, the University Data Library of the University of Edinburgh recently published a guideline for efficiently managing data collection projects. Good data management increases the efficiency of the survey, saves time and means in the long-run, and limits the risk of data loss, according to the Library.

The guideline, entitled 'How to manage research data: guidance for planning, documenting, securely storing and backing up research data', also explains other advantages of research data management. In addition, it contains a plea for carefully documenting all the steps during the research and to ensure proper data storage and a safe backup strategy. Finally, the data planning checklist systematically maps everything that already must be taken into account at the start of a survey.

Those who follow the recommendations won’t have to invest a lot of extra time to make research data available and deposit them for reuse, say the guideline’s providers.