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Make a data management plan

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Contact us

rdm.library [at] mcgill.ca

Research data managementÌý(RDM) concerns the organisation of data, from its entry to the research cycle through to the dissemination and archiving of valuable results (for a more comprehensive overview, see this ). It is part of the research process, and aims to make the research process as efficient as possible, and meet expectations and requirements of the university, research funders, and legislation.

RDM Ìýconcerns how you:

  • CreateÌýdata and plan for its use,
  • Organise, structure, and name data,
  • KeepÌýit – make it secure, provide access, store and back it up,
  • FindÌýinformation resources, andÌýshareÌýwith collaborators and more broadly, publish and get cited.Ìý

Writing a data management plan (DMP) enables the researcher to think about data from a holistic perspective, by thinking about questions and scenarios before they arise.ÌýWriting a DMP will enable you to: makeÌýdecisions on how you will 1. create, organize, document, store and backupÌýyour data; 2. document your ethicalÌýand legal obligations; 3. decide how you will share, archive and preserve your data over the longterm; and 4. meet grant requirements and/or produce a more competitive grant application. CarefulÌýplanningÌýwill reduce the risk of data loss and improve the overall efficiency of a project.

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PersonalizedÌýSupport

Contact us if you want to have an informal, one-to-one chat about the data you’re working with, what you’d like to be able to do with it, and your longer term plans. You might learn how to do more with your data, find out about new tools and services, or discuss ways of meeting funding body requirements – whatever’s most useful and most relevant.ÌýWe provide RDMÌýsupport, including support inÌýwriting DMPs for grant applications, intellectual property rights advice and information materials.Ìý

If you’d like to find out more about the support that’s available for managing your research data, why not rdm.library [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Data%20Management%20Support) (make an appointment with us)?

DMP Template Tools

Several tools have been developed that includeÌýtemplates that reflect criteria to meet funding requirements, and can help design a plan that is relevant to data in your research domain. These include:

  1. Ìý-Ìýan online tool designed to help Canadian academic researchers develop and implement research DMPs. The tool is bilingual and includes a customized version for Â鶹ԼÅÄ researchers.
  2. Ìý-Ìýproduced by the UK's Digital Curation Centre to help research teams write DMP.
  3. Ìý-Ìýprovides detailed guidance and links to general and institutional resources and walks a US based researcher through the process of generating aÌýDMP.

Learn More

You don't have to relyÌýon aÌýtemplate tool.ÌýLearn more about writing aÌýDMP by reviewing these resources:

  • Institutional resources:
  • External resources:
    • DataOne -
    • DataOne - Ìý
    • Digital Curation Centre (UK) -ÌýÌý
    • Digital Curation Centre (UK)Ìý-ÌýÌý
    • DMPTool (US) -Ìý
    • Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social ResearchÌý(ICPSR) -ÌýÌý
    • Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social ResearchÌý(ICPSR)Ìý-
    • Ìý-Ìýa free online course forÌýpost-graduate students,Ìýearly career researchers, andÌýthose who manage digital data as part of their research project

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Guiding documents

Government of Canada (2021)

Government of Canada (2016)Ìý.

OECDÌý(2007),Ìý, OECD Publishing, Paris.
DOI:Ìý

Â鶹ԼÅÄ (2011) Regulation on the conduct of Research. Section 4. Research Data.

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