Research Data Management (RDM)

This guide promotes the responsible preservation and sharing of research data by Centennial College researchers.

Centennial College Libraries supports researchers as they adhere to Canada's proposed Tri-Agency Policy on Research Data Management:

"The agencies believe that research data collected with the use of public funds should be responsibly and effectively managed and belong, to the fullest extent possible, in the public domain and available for reuse by others" 
( DRAFT- Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy For Consultation, 2018) 

"As publicly funded organizations, the agencies are strong advocates for making the results of the research they fund as accessible as possible. In promoting access to research results, they aspire to advance knowledge, avoid research duplication and encourage reuse, maximize research benefits to Canadians and showcase the accomplishments of Canadian researchers" 
(Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management, 2016)

Data deposit is now a common and expected part of the research process. Several examples are listed below of funding agency and publisher expectations with regard to data deposit.

• SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) has a Research Data Archiving Policy specifying that data be made available within 2 years: 

"All research data collected with the use of SSHRC funds must be preserved and made available for use by others within a reasonable period of time. SSHRC considers "a reasonable period" to be within two years of the completion of the research project for which the data was collected". 

• Wellcome Trust (large funder of health research) has a mandatory data deposit policy for grant recipients

"You must make any data, original code or materials that underpin published research findings accessible to other researchers at the time of publication. This long-standing requirement extends across all our funded research – from basic science to clinical trials."

• Science (AAAS) has a mandatory open data policy upon publication

"After publication, all data and materials necessary to understand, assess, and extend the conclusions of the manuscript must be available to any reader of a Science Journal. After publication, all reasonable requests for data, code, or materials must be fulfilled."