Keeping your research data safe at Oxford

The Research Data Oxford website describes research data management (RDM) as 'a general term covering how you organise, structure, store, and care for the information used or generated during a research project.'  So what does this mean for you?

Why should you care about RDM?

Over the last decade, RDM has been a growing issue for universities. The rapid growth and increasingly complex nature of data, together with requirements for keeping it safe mean that managing and storing your research data in secure, structured environments is more and more important.

Responsible researchers ensure their data is safe, not only during the life of the project, but in the longer term as well. The growth of data reuse and data science also make good practice in this area essential.

RDM services review 

External consultants conducted a review of Oxford’s RDM services during 2019-20. Part of the review involved mapping RDM services and presenting this in an understandable way. The review also made a series of recommendations for the future and noted some lessons learned, recognising such things as the importance of senior leadership involvement, engaging meaningfully with stakeholders and more. Take a look at the full case study on the UKSG Insights website.

Next steps

The case study explains that the review presented a roadmap including 'a suggested RDM action plan for the University that will continue to evolve and be iterated in the light of additional internal costings, available resources and reprioritization in the budget cycle for each academic year.' Taking forward appropriate actions falls to the University’s Research IT Board who have constructed a programme of projects to carry out the recommendations. Some of these can be undertaken as business as usual, while the rest will need to be funded under the IT Capital Plan or possibly via the iTransform programme. 

Further information

For additional information about Oxford’s RDM review or research data management more generally, read the full RDM review case study or contact rowan.wilson@it.ox.ac.uk or sarah.stewart@sant.ox.ac.uk.