Data Management Checklist
These questions will help you get started on understanding your research group's data management needs. By starting to think about these factors early in the research process, many issues can be avoided later on. Following sections of this guide will help you consider these questions.
- What are your data? What forms of data does your research group create and use? What data do you obtain from external sources?
- How much data will be produced, and at what growth rate? How often will it change?
- Who will use the data now, and later?
- Who controls the data (PI, student, lab, CSU Fullerton, funder)?
- How long should the data be retained due to its relevancy? ex: 3-5 years, 10-20 years, permanently
- Are there tools or software needed to create/process/visualize the data?
- Any special privacy or security requirements? ex: personal data, endangered animal data
- What other local, national, or international policies and standards apply to the data?
- What funding agency rules guide data release and sharing?
- Any other funding requirements?
- Who is responsible for what data management activities?
- What release, deposit, or embargo policies apply to your research group?
- Is there currently well-established data documentation or metadata practices?
- What directory and file naming convention will be used?
- What project and data identifiers will be assigned?
- What file formats? Are they long-lived? open?
- What is your storage and backup strategy?
- When will I publish it and where? What community sources exist for data archiving?
- What community practices, rules, or guidelines exist for data sharing? What are community expectations for replicating or reproducing research?
- Who is responsible for what data management activities?
