Category: Open Data

Historically, data collection has been paper-based. However, the developments in information and communication technologies have brought paperless data management within reach. This has made way for the adoption of new methods and tools (software, hardware, instruments and equipment), new data sources, and increased connection of global research via the internet. Having explored this paradigm shift and the challenges it comes with, particularly the reproducibility of research and the transparency of research methods. The Stellenbosch University’s Library and Information Service acknowledges that by carefully planning, documenting, and preserving data, the goals of having reproducible and transparent research data are far easier to meet. It is for this reason that the Library adopted modern research technologies in the form of SunDMP (Data Management Planning tool) and SUNScholarData (Institutional Research Data Repository).

SunDMP: A data management planning tool

Data Management Plans are the basis for structured research data management throughout the research data lifecycle. A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a formal written document that describes the data a researcher expects to acquire or generate during the course of a scientific research project. The need for having a DMP emanates from the understanding that research data is being produced at a rapid rate in a wide variety of digital forms in academic institutions like Stellenbosch University (SU). However, this data is most prone to loss due to mismanagement. These kinds of developments have over the years prompted research funders to require researchers to submit DMPs as part of their proposals for research grant applications. The Library and Information Service as the natural partner to the research process understands that without proper management and care, research data often does not exist much past the completion of the scientific research project. The launch of SunDMP has made it possible for SU researchers to automatically generate DMPs using the University’s standard template. Moreover, the Library recommends that SunDMP not be limited to the minimal creation of a DMP as per funder requirements or SU’s research data management (RDM) regulations. Instead, it ought to be treated as an invaluable part of the research data lifecycle that ensures research data remains usable to the primary researcher during the scientific research project (and beyond), as well as by other researchers with similar research interests.

SUNScholarData: An institutional research data repository

Data management and sharing have become more prominent among research organisations, and this has encouraged such organisations to develop local infrastructure (institutional research data repositories) to cater for such developments. A growing number of funders and publishers require researchers to publicly share their research data and sometimes recommend specific platforms in which data may be shared. Research data publishing is an approach for sharing research data to enable other researchers with similar interests to reuse the same data. In instances where SU researchers are unsure where to share their research data when publishing, our CoreTrustSeal-certified SUNScholarData should always remain the first point of reference. This does not in any way supersede the platform recommended by the funder or publisher. The use of SUNScholarData by SU researchers helps ensure that their research data is likely to be discovered by other users and more likely to be cited. This is due to the fact that SUNScholarData is an openly accessible platform that adheres to FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles of data handling and management.

Enquiries: Xabiso Xesi, Sizwe Ngcobo