6a - Who (for example role, position, and institution) will be responsible for data management (i.e. the data steward)?
Science Europe DMP Guidance - annotated
6a.1
Outline the roles and responsibilities for data management/stewardship activities for example data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, data archiving, and data sharing. Name responsible individual(s) where possible.
In general, the PI (Principal Investigator) has the overall responsibility for the project and all its activities and outputs, including data management. It is useful to early in the project name roles and project members responsible for the various activities related to data management as exemplified above. The relevant aspects that are adressed in the prior parts of the plan, should all be assigned a responsible individual. In addition to the activities mentioned in 6a.1, it can be beneficial to have a person who is responsible for controlling access to the data in the project period, as well as someone responsible for the data after the project is ended. This is particularly important if not all data can be made openly accessible.
If the DMP is created as part of a student or PhD project, it should be made clear which responsibilities follow for the supervisor. Some institutions have formalised this in their PhD guidelines (e.g. UiT).
Information given in this section should reflect in 0 - Administrative information.
6a.2
For collaborative projects, explain the co-ordination of data management responsibilities across partners.
Important if two or more project partners or legislatures are involved, and/or personal data are collected, and/or IPR or commercial value need to be clarified (see also 4 - Legal and ethical requirements).
6a.3
Indicate who is responsible for implementing the DMP, and for ensuring it is reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
Implementing the DMP should be understood as both writing and updating the DMP, while also ensuring the project and its members are aware of the DMP and refer to it as the project proceeds.
6a.4
Consider regular updates of the DMP
The DMP should be used as an active project management tool, and the value of a DMP is best if it is up to date and available to all project members during the project. Make sure you are familiar with routines at your institution for developing, implementing and/or approving DMPs.
Science Europe DMP Evaluation Rubric: sufficiently addressed
- Clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities for data management/stewardship (for example data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, data archiving, and data sharing), naming responsible individual(s) where possible.
- Clearly indicates who is responsible for day-to-day implementation and adjustments to the DMP.
- Explains, for collaborative projects, the co-ordination of data management responsibilities across partners.
Relevant PID
* ORCID to identify individuals
* CRediT for contributors roles
* ROR for institution (? - for responsible institution. And to map individual ORCIDs with institution?)
Interested stakeholder
* Level 2: Possibly core facility, research administration, research archive
* Level 3: Research community (when assessing the project)
Relevant project phase
* planning post-award, active phase, final reporting
Coverage in RDA Common Standard for maDMP
[Properties in dmp]
- #dmp_contributor_table: contributor_id (identifier, type), mbox, name, role [string, not controlled])
Other DMP guidance
Guidance from NFR
[Data management - reponsibilities and resources]
- Which roles are assigned which responsibility for data management activities in the project? Examples of activities are data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, long-term preservation and data sharing. Responsible individuals should be disclosed, if possible.
- For collaborative projects; How is responsibility for data management between partners coordinated?
- Who is responsible for implementing the data management plan and for ensuring that the plan is reviewed and regularly updated? In our guidelines, it is the responsible institution that must approve the plan.
Horizon Europe DMP Template
[4. Allocation of resources]
- Who will be responsible for data management in your project?
FAIRsFAIR FAIR-Aware Additional Guidance
- Determine the role of the data repository in your data management and stewardship. Choose an adequate repository to archive and share your data in that can meet or surpass your desires. Trustworthy Digital Repositories (TDRs) are repositories that provide support and take responsibility for data curation and digital preservation. TDRs can be officially certified (e.g., by the CoreTrustSeal, DIN31644/NESTOR, or ISO163638 standard). Use Re3data to find certified TDRs to deposit your data in.
Knowledge for support staff
- Assigning roles (e.g. CRediT)
- Understanding responsibilities (e.g. GDPR & institution)
- Stress the importance of clear distribution of roles and responsibilities, and the importance of communicating the roles and responsibilities among project members.
Knowledge for users
- Examples of responsibility distribution
- Motivation: The importance of clear roles and responsibility distribution
Existing sources that can be reused
NTNU - DMP guidance
Some funders consider costs related to research data management as a legitimate addition to the project budget. Consider whether you should include costs such as these when applying for research grants and contact the financial officer at your faculty/institute.
UiT - DMP guidance
Who has the right to manage the data? (Usually several members of the project group, but not necessarily all members. Manage means collect, structure, revise, process, etc.)
EasyDMP
Describe who will be responsible for the management of your data
You should consider the roles and responsibilities (naming individuals if possible) for data management/ stewardship actvities for example data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, data archiving, and data sharing. For collaborative projects, explain the coordination of data management responsibilities across partners. Indicate who is responsible for implementing the DMP, and for ensuring it is reviewed and, if necessary, revised. You should consider regular updates of the DMP.
SND - Checklist DMP
[Is personal data involved in the dataset? If so, has the personal data processing been reported to the data protection officer, in compliance with the research principal’s policies?] Why is this important? Research material that will contain personal data has to be reported to the data protection officer. The research principal is legally obligated (GDPR, Article 30) to keep a record of all projects where personal data are processed.
DMP Tuuli
Who (for example role, position, and institution) will be responsible for data management? (6.1) Summarise here all the roles and responsibilities described in the previous answers. Also, consider who will be responsible for the data resulting from your project after your project has ended.
Tips for best practices
- Outline the roles and responsibilities for data management/stewardship activities, for example, data capture, metadata production, data quality, storage and backup, data archiving, and data sharing. Name the responsible individual(s) where possible.
Who will be responsible for controlling access to your data, and how will secured access be controlled? (4.2)
It is essential to consider data security issues, especially if your data include sensitive data, personal data, politically sensitive information or trade secrets. Describe who has access to your data, what they are authorised to do with the data, or how you will ensure the safe transfer of data to your collaborators.
Tips for best practices
- Access controls should always be in line with the level of confidentiality involved
- For collaborative projects, explain the co-ordination of data management responsibilities across partners.
- Indicate who is responsible for implementing the DMP and for ensuring that it is reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
- Consider scheduling regular updates of the DMP.
6b - What resources (for example financial and time) will be dedicated to data management and ensuring that data will be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable)?
Science Europe DMP Guidance - annotated
6b.1
Explain how the necessary resources (for example time) to prepare the data for sharing/preservation (data curation) have been costed in. Carefully consider and justify any resources needed to deliver the data. These may include storage costs, hardware, staff time, costs of preparing data for deposit, and repository charges.
Include also the resources needed for collecting or generating the data, like the cost of staff to collect, process, manage, and document the data during the project, as well as to prepare the data and documentation for long-term preservation and possible dissemination, which will improve the FAIRness of the data. Other possible costs might be related to software, lisences or use of e-infrastructure.
6b.2
Indicate whether additional resources will be needed to prepare data for deposit or to meet any charges from data repositories. If yes, explain how much is needed and how such costs will be covered.
Include monetary costs in your project budget, preferrably broken down on activities and services. Make an effort early in the project to identify suitable repositories, so that repository charges may be included in the budget and in the funding application. Revise your budget on these elements when needed.
Science Europe DMP Evaluation Rubric: sufficiently addressed
- Provides 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 describes how these costs will be covered. Alternatively, there is a statement that no additional resources are needed.
Relevant PID
* none?
Interested stakeholder
* Level 1: Funder
* Level 2: Research Administration
Relevant project phase
* planning pre-award
* planning post-award
Coverage in RDA Common Standard for maDMP
[Properties in dmp]
- #cost_table: currency_code, description, title, value
Other DMP guidance
Guidance from NFR
[Storage and data security during the project]
- How are the necessary resources budgeted and covered in the project to prepare data for sharing and long-term preservation (curating)? These can be costs related to storage, hardware, staff time, costs associated with preparing data for disposal and costs related to preservation at a data repository.
Horizon Europe DMP Template
[4. Allocation of resources]
- What will the costs be for making data or other research outputs FAIR in your project (e.g. direct and indirect costs related to storage, archiving, re-use, security, etc.)
- How will these be covered? Note that costs related to research data/output management are eligible as part of the Horizon Europe grant (if compliant with the Grant Agreement conditions)
- How will long term preservation be ensured? Discuss the necessary resources to accomplish this (costs and potential value, who decides and how, what data will be kept and for how long)?
FAIRsFAIR FAIR-Aware Additional Guidance
- Determine any costs that your chosen repository charges for depositing the data. Data repositories, especially TDRs (‘trustworthy digital repositories’) will perform (some) data curation and digital preservation. This is an active and ongoing process of data management to ensure discovery, reuse, and long-term FAIR durability. Contact the repository of your choice to learn about these costs and make them explicit in your DMP.
Knowledge for support staff
- Costing RDM, funder guidelines on what costs are eligible
- Resources e.g. OpenAire section costs of RDM, OpenAire RDM cost estimation
Knowledge for users
- Costing RDM
- Resources e.g. OpenAire section costs of RDM, OpenAire RDM cost estimation
Existing sources that can be reused
NTNU - DMP Guidance
The FAIR acronym points to overarching principles for data management that will enhance the potential for reusability. For more information, visit the Go FAIR website.
In short, you increase the FAIRness of data by
- Depositing your data/metadata in a searchable resource
- Providing all information required for users (computer or human) to read and interpret the data.
- Using available community standards for data and metadata.
- Using open formats and assigning persistent identifiers.
- Providing your data with an appropriate license
- In some cases, there will be additional costs involved in managing data in a way that promotes reuse. Examples could be costs for storage and processing of large amounts of data, or costs related to making particular data types available through repositories. For some projects, there might also be a need for a dedicated data manager or data steward. Although it might be difficult to pinpoint the exact costs, OpenAIRE has developed a data costing tool that lists elements that could be useful to consider when attempting to estimate.
SIKT DMP
Note that costs associated with open access to research data may be a qualified part of the research grant. This applies, for example, for Horizon 2020 projects (if otherwise in accordance with the terms of the grant agreement).
EasyDMP
Describe the resources that will be dedicated to the management of your data such that it follows the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles
You should consider the resources (time, personnel, money) necessary to preserve and share the data. You should cover where the resources will come from.
SND - Checklist for DMP
[Estimate what resources you will need to collect and document the data material during the project. This includes the cost of staff to collect, process, manage, and document the data during the project, as well as to prepare the data and documentation for long-term preservation and possible dissemination, which will improve the FAIRness of the data.]
Why is this important? Handling and documenting data tends to require more resources than planned. By planning for and documenting staff costs for documentation and data management during the project, as well as for the work needed to archive and make the data accessible after the project, you are more likely to have sufficient resources.
DMP Tuuli
What resources will be required for your data management procedures to ensure that the data can be opened and preserved according to FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable)? Estimate the resources, such as time and financial costs, needed to manage, share and preserve the data. These may include storage costs, hardware, staff time, the costs of preparing data for deposit and repository charges.
Tips for best practices
- Consider, if there will be additional costs from computational facilities or resources that need to be accessed.
- Account for resources, time and money, needed to prepare the data for sharing it and preservation (data curation).
- Remember to specify your data management costs in the budget, according to funder requirements.