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Research Data Management

How to describe RDM responsibilities and resources

Now that you have described all of the tasks required to manage the research data, the final section of the DMP outlines who on the team is responsible for each task to properly manage the data through the lifecycle of this project. You can also flag any resource you need to manage the data here, and this section should align with your project timeframe and budget. There are two questions to answer in this section: 

  1. Who in the team will be responsible for the various data management tasks?
  2. What resources (e.g. financial and time) will be dedicated to data management and ensuring that data will be FAIR?

You can read more about FAIR data in our our FAIR data library guide.

Who will be responsible for research data management?

As part of your Data Management Plan, you should clearly outline who is responsible for the various aspects of research data management throughout the life of the project and beyond. All members of the research team should be aware of who is responsible for data management, including:

  • Who is responsible for the various tasks to ensure good quality research data management. Outline the roles and responsibilities, for example data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, data archiving, and data sharing.
  • Rather than saying something generic like, "The team will ensure the data is adequately managed", name specific team members and assign tasks to them. For example, "The Research Assistant will carry out data capture, quality control and data documentation, The PI will review and update the DMP every six months". 
  • For collaborative projects, explain the co-ordination of data management responsibilities across partners. For example, who in your partner university will ensure the data they capture is cleaned, documented, and stored in the shared drive? 
  • Details how often the Data Management Plan will be updated and reviewed, and by who? The review should happen every 6-12 months depending on how long the study will for on for, and you don't have to completely rewrite it each time, just update the parts that have changed or progressed. 
  • Indicate who on the team will ensure the DMP is implemented, and who will ensure it is reviewed at regular intervals.

Particular consideration should be given to who is responsible for the the long-term management of the research data, including: 

  • Who will oversee data and file management for long-term preservation e.g. depositing data in a repository? This can be very hands on work to get the data ready for preservation (see previous section of this guide) but it can also be administrative, in terms of who has the authority to select the repository where all your study data will be preserved. 
  • Who will handle requests for access to the data? Will you need a data access committee to review requests for access, and will this be a short term arrangement? 
  • Who will make decisions regarding data sharing and if there are any restrictions on data access?
  • Who will have ownership of the data (especially when working with multiple partners)? This ties into the licensing questions raised in an earlier section of this guide. 
  • Who will be responsible for making sure funder requirements are met and outputs are provided? This can be very later stage work, such as providing a Data Availability Statement to a journal, so who on the team will be able to do this work at the end of the project, or will you need support from the Library?

What resources will be dedicated to research data management?

In this section you can detail any additional costs that are needed to preserve research data and make them shareable beyond the original research team. Where possible, provide clear estimates of the resources and costs (for example storage costs, hardware, staff time, costs of preparing data for deposit, and repository charges) that will be dedicated to data management and ensuring that data will be FAIR and describe how these costs will be covered. There are no hard and fast rules for costing but the following should be considered: 

  • Have you included in your project budget and/or timeline the necessary resources to prepare the data for sharing/preservation. For example have you a 'data cleaning and preparation' period in your project plan when transcription, anonymisation, data quality checks are carried out? Have you a 'data preparation for archive' period in your project plan when data will be curated and transferred into the repository?
  • Have you included in your project budget / timeline additional resources that will be needed to deliver the data. These may include additional storage costs due to the large volume of the data, dedicated staff time for data management,  and repository charges. Alternatively, you can include the statement that no additional resources are needed.
  • Not all repositories charge for use, but check with your preferred repository whether they is a fee to deposit. Explain how much is needed and how such costs will be covered.
  • Does your project include a FAIR Data budget line which can be used for such resources as dedicated support from the RCSI Research Data Coordinator to train staff, or support the completion of the DMP.