Data Management Toolkit

The Research Data Lifecycle

It's helpful to break down the stages of a project's research cycle to better understand what actions should be taken at each step in order to keep your data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible). While different interpretations of the lifestyle exist, we'll break it down into five parts:

Planning

The planning stage is where a researcher identifies the data that they will collect or use, then plan for how they will manage that data throughout its lifecycle. Ideally, a researcher creates a Data Management Plan (DMP) during this stage. Some potential steps that could occur in the planning stage include:

• Determining whether you will collect new data or use pre-existing data sets
• Identifying potential users of your data
• Calculating data-related costs
• Investigating potential challenges with archiving, consent, and confidentiality
• Write data management plan
• Choose documentation form and content

Collection

As a researcher carries out their experiments, they will begin to collect data. While doing so, they need to document how they've collected their data and any additional information needed to interpret the data. Some potential steps that may occur in the collection stage include:

• File organization, backup, and storage
• Data collection QA

Analysis

The analysis stage is when a researcher analyzes and interrogates collected raw data, leading to their eventual research findings. It is another stage that requires documentation of the process and methods used to interpret the data, as well as any code that may have been written or used for this purpose. Some potential steps that may occur in the analysis stage include:

• File version management
• Document analysis and file manipulations

Preservation

When a researcher is nearing the completion of their project, they should think about the long-term preservation of their data. Archiving data in a safe location with appropriate metadata ensures that they will be able to access the data in the future, as well as share that data with other researchers who may want to replicate their experiment or use it as a foundation for another. Some potential steps that may occur in the preservation stage include:

• Determining file formats
• Creation and/or cleanup of metadata records
• Assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
• Determining and assigning access controls

Sharing

Once the data has the appropriate pieces in place, it can be deposited into an appropriate repository. From there, it can be linked to in the citations of any papers published using findings from that data or elsewhere. Sharing data allows it to be reused by yourself or others. Some potential steps that may occur in the sharing stage include:

• Depositing data into repository
• Writing and publishing a paper