Research data management (RDM) is the process of creating organized, documented, accessible, and reusable research data. It helps with research organization and comprehensibility, making onboarding to projects easier and allowing for ease in communicating research results to colleagues and the public. RDM helps improve research workflows to make them more resilient, efficient, maintainable, and reproducible.
RDM is research self care! The actions taken today to organize your research data will help future you feel more in control of your research project, and make it easier to share your results with others. While it is good to implement RDM techniques as early as you can in your research, we understand that there may be many barriers to doing so, including a lack of extra time to devote to it. We're here to help!
Taking the extra time now to manage your data will save you an immense amount of time later on in your research.
Data management should happen at all stages of your research project! From the beginning stages of designing and planning your research, to collecting and analyzing your data, to publishing and archiving your data, and even when reusing your data! The sooner you start to think about data management in your project, the better - but, we understand why it might not be the most exciting thing to spend time on. We at CMU Libraries are here to help you develop good data management practices so you can spend more time on the fun parts of your research, such as collecting data and creating visualizations!
This LibGuide offers advice and guidance on data management techniques for each stage of a research project. Keep navigating across the tabs on the left side of the page to learn more!
