Data management checklist

This checklist can help you identify best practices for data management and data sharing.

Planning

• Who is responsible for which part of data management?
• Are new skills required for any activities?
• Do you need extra resources to manage data, such as people, time or hardware?
• Have you accounted for costs associated with depositing data for longer-term preservation and access?

Documenting

• Will others be able to understand your data and use them properly?
• Are your structured data self-explanatory in terms of variable names, codes and abbreviations used?
• Which descriptions and contextual documentation explain what your data mean, how they were collected and the methods used to create them?
• How will you label and organise data, records and files?
• Will you be consistent in how data are catalogued?

 Formatting

• Are you using standardised and consistent procedures to collect, process, transcribe, check, validate and verify data, such as standard protocols, templates or input forms?
• Which data formats will you use? Do formats and software enable sharing and long-term sustainability of data, such as non-proprietary software and software based on open standards?
• When converting data across formats, do you check that no data, annotation or internal metadata have been lost or changed?

Storing

• Are your digital and non-digital data, and any copies, held in multiple safe and secure locations?
• Do you need to securely store personal or sensitive data? If so, are they properly protected?
• If data are collected with mobile devices, how will you transfer and store the data?
• If data are held in multiple places, how will you keep track of versions?
• Are your files backed up sufficiently and regularly and are backups stored safely?
• Do you know which version of your data files is the master?
• Who has access to which data during and after research? Is there a need for access restrictions? How will these be managed after you are dead?
• How long will you store your data for and do you need to select which data to keep and which to destroy?

 Confidentiality, ethics and consent

• Do your data contain confidential or sensitive information? If so, have you discussed data sharing with the respondents from whom you collected the data?
• Are you gaining written consent from respondents to share data beyond your research?
• Do you need to anonymise data, for example, to remove identifying information or personal data, during research or in preparation for sharing?

Copyright

• Have you established who owns the copyright in your data? Might there be joint copyright?
• Have you considered which kind of license is appropriate for sharing your data and what, if any, restrictions there might be on re-use?
• If you are purchasing or re-using someone else’s data sources have you considered how that data might be shareable, for example negotiating a new licence with the original supplier?
• Can you preserve for the long-term, personal information so that it can be used in the future?

Sharing

• Do you intend to make all your data available for sharing or how will you select which data to preserve and share?
• How and where will you preserve your research data for the longer-term?
• How will you make your data accessible to future users?

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Related Links

• ESRC Research data policy