Research Data Management Support Service Jan June 2015 End Stage Report

Transcription

1 Research Data Management Support Service Jan June 2015 End Stage Report Report Version Control Version Date Author Change Description /06/2015 Gareth Knight 1

2 1.1. Project Manager s Report This End Stage Report (ESR) summarises work performed on the Wellcome Trust-funded RDMSS project during the period Jan May 2015: Awareness of the RDM Service continues to grow. In total, 69 queries were handled during Jan - May This is an increase over the 44 support requests handled during the same period in For the first time since the project launch, the majority of queries have originated from PHP researchers, as opposed to EPH researchers. The majority of LSHTM researchers get in touch with the RDM Service at the Project Planning phase, or during the first months of the project. Most queries focus upon Data Management Plans and the PLOS data sharing requirements. A growing number cover multiple topics and require consultation with other departments & external people. The LSHTM research data repository, LSHTM Data Compass is now live and accepting data submissions. Seven records are public at the time of writing (22 nd June), with 5 more under review. The RDM Policy requirement that funded projects should have a Data Management Plan came into effect at the start of the year. A small, but growing number of projects have met this requirement so far. In most cases, the Project Manager has had to initiate contact with the project to determine if they were creating digital data & help them to produce a DMP. By contrast, LSHTM students have been more likely to get in touch for advice on preparing a DMP for their research project. The University of London Computing Centre (ULCC) recently migrated to the Github code repository. This enables them to manage the process of handling code submissions from non-ulcc staff and will make it easier to integrate updates from other repositories at a future date. However, it did require a significant amount of work by the RDM team in order to re-implement and re-test existing functionality. This required the repository s soft launch to be delayed until late May. The EPrints access control plug-in being developed by Leeds, Essex and Southampton University (which allow repositories to set access permissions for individual users) has been delayed. It is unlikely that this will be ready for use until If this feature is to be implemented in LSHTM Data Compass at a later date, it s likely that we will need to buy ULCC developer days. 2

3 1.2. Assessment against project plan No. Title Outputs Status Further Information 1 Project Management 1.2. Produce Highlight Reports Monthly reports All monthly reports completed and submitted to date Produce End End Stage Report This document Stage Report Stage 6 3. EPSRC RDM Roadmap 3.3. Produce EPSRC Compliance report 5 RDM Website 5.5 Maintain RDM website EPSRC Compliance report Updated LSHTM storage document Available at researchdataman/plan/ funder_epsrc.html 6. RDM training material 6.3. Produce training material 8 LSHTM Data Management Plan Ongoing Directing researchers to MANTRA training Further customisation and development is ongoing 8.6 DMPs for research projects Research Operations agreed to introduce DMP questions into SPR 8.7 DMPs for student projects Provide DMP support as required. No webpage updates needed during past 6 months 8.8 Maintain DMP DMP web pages Amendments as required guidance 9 Funder Data Management Plan Produce CRUK/MRC DMP DMP guide Final draft Recently updated to cover mixed methods research. To be uploaded in June guide Produce ESRC DMP guide DMP guide Final draft Recently updated to cover mixed methods research. To be uploaded in June 11. Research Data Repository 11.3 Implement core functionality Task list outlining priorities for prelaunch and postlaunch ULCC has migrated the data repository into a GitHub hosted system. This makes it easier for multiple developers to commit code, but has required a significant amount of work to reimplement and re-test functionality User testing Feedback Pre-launch testing complete. Will continue to gather feedback following launch Transfer repository to production server Live repository Available at Develop enduser documentation Web pages created on: Data sharing 3 Available at man/depositdata/

4 No. Title Outputs Status Further Information Evaluate repository functionality using Data Seal of Approval Organise repository launch 11.9 Post-launch development & testing 12. RDM licence models 12.3 Produce website guidance on data sharing agreements 12.4 Ensure participant consent reflects data archiving & reuse decision tree Organising data Exporting to an appropriate format Data redaction Preparing documentation Choosing licence & access permissions Creating a Data Collection record Evaluation report Delayed Moved to post-launch activities Launch event Launch event to take place on July 9th Updated data repository Data Sharing training material Ongoing 19. Dissemination 19.3 RDM seminars Various - See Project wrap-up 20.1 Organise End-ofproject event Scheduled time with ULCC to review code on regular basis SJ preparing Google Maps plugin as a EPrints Bazaar package Part of Data deposit guide. Updated Informed Consent form & Participant Information document & forwarded to John Porter & Patricia Henley for comment. PM indicate Naomi Tranter will incorporate it into SOP Training material reflects consent issues End-of-project event Workshop on Research Data Services held on June 30th 4

5 1.3. Data Management and Sharing queries The RDM Service has handled 69 queries during the Jan - May 2015 period, as shown below. For comparison, 44 support requests were handled during the Jan-May 2014 period External 2 External 1 AAS 2 AAS 2 PHP 8 PHP 6 PHP 4 ITD 2 ITD 1 ITD 2 EPH 3 EPH 5 EPH 4 External 1 AAS 2 PHP 5 External 3 ITD 3 AAS 2 PHP 2 ITD 1 EPH 6 EPH 2 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 External AAS PHP ITD EPH Figure 1: Number of RDM queries per month and their source The majority of queries were received from PHP staff (25), followed by EPH (20), ITD (9) and AAS central services (8). Seven queries were submitted by research data staff at other institutions who were interested in specific aspects of the LSHTM RDM Service. Funder Data Management Plans continue to form the majority of support requests, followed by enquiries on how to meet the PLOS Data Policy requirements and more general questions on data sharing. Data security is also a concern for many researchers, who request advice on security methods and software tools that should be applied to specific content types. Since the introduction of the LSHTM RDM Policy, a small number of support requests have focused upon the Data Management Plan requirements (the majority of these correspondents are initiated by the RDM Service). Figure 2: Themes covered in RDM queries during Jan May

6 1.4. Dissemination The RDM Service has organised several activities since the previous report: 6000 word manuscript on LSHTM s RDM Service accepted for publication in Emerald Publishing s special issue of Program on Research Data Services Staff/student training events: o Transferable Skills for students: Data Management Planning - 18 attendees o TEDS for staff: Producing Data Management Plans for research funders - 4 attendees GK and John Murtagh ran 90 minute seminar on licences for publications and data. Recording available at A four hour on Data Management Planning was organized at the request of UCL Bartlett - 15 students present + 5 remote students Gave invited talk for M25 Conference 2015 in April. See Gave invited talk on preserving scientific & humanities data at the Digital Preservation Coalition Getting Started in Digital Preservation workshop. Co-organised and spoke at a London Area Research Data meeting at London School of Economics Organised and ran LSHTM workshop on Research Data Services on June 30 th A launch event for LSHTM Data Compass will take place on July 9 th. Various presentations on RDM Policy at department meetings 1.5. Lessons learnt and further work needed A joined-up approach is needed to ensure RDM training provided by IT Services, Transferrable Skills, Talent and Educational Development & short courses is sufficient. GK performed an initial gap analysis in March, which identified several areas where further support was needed. It would be useful if training information offered to different stakeholders could be provided in a single location. The RDM Service continues to receive a large number of RDM queries, many of which are labelled urgent (due to the applicant s funding deadlines) and require a significant amount of time to address. GK has implemented various measures to manage this process, while performing other activities, but would be interested to hear how other departments handle this process. The LSHTM data repository was originally intended to be a catalogue of data outputs published elsewhere. Practical experience suggests it is simple to create a metadata record that directs to a dataset published by the UK Data Service or other established data archives. However, new practices are needed on how to describe the new generation of nano data publications still images and tabular data hosted by Figshare that are directly referenced as figures and tables in a journal paper. For example, 5 small datasets used in a single paper can be found at Possible approaches that may be taken include [a] create a metadata record for each output, or [b] create a metadata record for all outputs referenced in a paper. However, [a] creates a substantial amount of work for little benefit, and [b] is difficult to perform without describing the paper itself. The RDM Service will seek advice from the DCC and broader RDM community on addressing this issue. 6