Why worry about data management now? Research data management decisions begin with the initial research project proposal and research design, affect every step of the research project from start to finish, and even have lasting consequences after a project concludes.

As an Anthropology Ph.D. student, learning about the best practices for social sciences research data now will:

• help you get funding for your research (many federal agencies now require a data management plan (DMP) for all grant applications, and soon all federal agencies will require DMPs)
• help you organize your data from the beginning to avoid confusion and/or loss of data later on
• help you make decisions that will ensure that your data is preserved
• help you decide when, where, and how to share your research data

Research Data Life Cycle

Image Courtesy of DataOne

The DMPTool is a free online wizard that supports the creation of data management plans (DMPs) for a variety of funding agencies, using templates customized to each funding agency's requirements. The University of Illinois is an affiliated institution, so UIUC students and faculty can log in with their netID and password to use a version of the tool that is customized for our institution.

Through a step by step process and a series of questions, it walks the researcher through the important data management decisions, and uses the answers to build the data management plan for the funding application.

Links to best practice information from the UIUC library and from other reputable sources are provided at each step in the process. The researcher may also choose to request a review of their DMP by a UIUC librarian.

Want to learn more about data management best practices? The library is offering a series of data management workshops through the Savvy Researcher Workshops.

Check the Research Data Service Workshops webpage linked below for dates/times of data management workshops, registration links and links to workshop materials.