“Research data management concerns the organisation of data, from its entry to the research cycle through to the dissemination and archiving of valuable results. It aims to ensure reliable verification of results, and permits new and innovative research built on existing information.”(from, Whyte, A., Tedds, J. (2011). ‘Making the Case for Research Data Management’. DCC Briefing Papers. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online)
From the beginning of the research lifecycle to the collection, dissemination and archiving of results obtained, data organization and management is the core of the research process; it makes the process efficient and meets the requirements of many funders and institutions .
Research data management according to the FAIR principles represents a cultural change in the way stakeholders in the research, education and knowledge exchange communities create, store, share and deliver the outputs of their activity.
FAIR data are a significative part of the Open Science environment, and the University of Milan:
– endorses FAIR data principles and actions as a prerequisite for transparency, reproducibility and accessibility of research findings;
– acknowledges the importance of data management for scientific research quality and integrity;
– is committed to adopt the highest standards for data collection, storage and preservation;
– proposes a Data Management Plan (DMP) model for data collection, documentation, storage, access, use and preservation;
– gives researchers an infrastructure to archive and publish their datasets.
A Data Management Policy was adopted to formalise the full adherence to FAIR principles, establish the responsibilities, rights and duties of the University and of its researchers.
There are a number of reasons why there is an emphasis on Research data management and FAIR data, first of all the possibility to reproduce a research result being able to benefit from all necessary information and documentation.
ELIXIR CONVERGE – The why of research data management
A funny story about open data
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