Project guide for researchers: Data management and data planning

A vast amount of different data and materials is processed during a research project, including but not limited to notes, e-mail correspondence, research plans, research materials and article drafts.

It is a good idea to make a comprehensive data management plan at the very start of the project. Examples of data management planning include plans for gathering information, plans for processing material thats are collected and produced during the project, plans regarding storage and archiving, and planning the publication of the results. Planning the management of research materials is part of data management planning.

At the start of the project, the principal investigator and researchers agree upon the principles of managing the material that is stored, accessed and archived over the course of the project. A researcher receiving personal funding must also make a data management plan for the project, including the management of research materials.

Materials that are necessary for managing the project can be compiled into an electronic or physical project binder. Please follow the financier’s instructions and take the university’s archival guidelines into account when compiling the project binder.

Responsibility of the principal investigator / researcher

• documents concerning financial planning and budgets
• documents concerning procurements and competitive tendering
• accounting related to the research project funding, if not handled as a part of the university’s accounting

Responsibility of financial services

• copies of invoices, along with their attachments
• payment applications, requests for clarification and clarifications
• payment decisions
• work time tracking reports
• auditing-related data and reports

Planning the management of research materials is a part of openness in research. The general principles of data management have been outlined in the Uniarts Helsinki policy regarding research materials and its implementation plan.

The principles of research ethics must be followed when managing and opening data, and any confidential information must be protected in accordance with legislation and university guidelines.

Researchers receiving outside funding must check the financier’s requirements for the openness of research materials. Open research data must mention the name of the financier and the ID number of the funding decision. You can find information on the financiers’ websites and Open Science website.

A data management plan is made during the planning and initiation phases of the project and updated as the project progresses. Often, the financier will require the plan when applying for funding.

A data management plan describes how research data are collected or created, how data are used and stored during research and how they are made accessible for others after the research has been completed. When making a data management plan, the project participants should also agree upon their duties, responsibilities and rights regarding the research data.

It is also a good idea to estimate the storage capacity required by the data in advance, as well as the technical solutions for storing the data.

• project application and research plan
• funding decision
• funding agreement
• appeal(s) for changes in funding
• decision(s) on changes in funding
• other contracts (e.g. service and subcontractor agreements, training and cooperation agreements, copyright agreements, agreements between members of the research team)
• meeting memorandums and minutes, advisory group minutes
• signed participant lists for meetings and seminars, if necessary (please check the financier’s instructions on reporting)
• project diaries, if they exist
• data and material management plan
• research materials / data
• metadata to be attached to research data, research material catalogues
• important correspondence concerning data collection and processing
• research registries and catalogues
• databases, information systems
• requests for ethical review and related statements
• research permits, contracts signed with research subjects
• communications plan
• publication plan
• the processing and storing of privacy notices and filing systems containing personal data are covered in more detail later in this guide
• intermediate reports, if any
• final report
• any unpublished material which may, based on the researcher’s own assessment, be or become important in the future (conference presentations, teaching materials, project announcement materials, etc.)

Document Management
Taina Turpeinen

Library Services
Data management, metadata and DMP Tuuli

lib.research@uniarts.fi

• printed and electronic collections, acquisition, and document delivery
  • after the project is finished, any literature purchased with its funding may be passed over to the library, in which case it becomes available to all Uniarts Helsinki users. Specialised literature that is primarily related to the research project is to be purchased using the project budget. The library may purchase some literature that can benefit the entire university.
• information retrieval teaching and support
• reference management software Zotero support and training
• research data management training, Data Management Plan (DMP) commenting, and DMPTuuli tool support
• Open Access publishing support and APC fund administration
• institutional repository Taju maintenance and development, and self-archiving service
• validation of publication data in UniartsCRIS
• ORCID iD support

Read more: library`s research services

•  Research Data Management Guide
   
• Open Science website
   
• Finnish Social Science Data Archive’s Data management guidelines
   
• DMPTuuli