Research data management

In the course of research, a wide range of data is generated or processed using scientific methods. Research data management focuses on the structured, sustainable handling of this research data. Research data management refers to all measures relating to the handling of digital research data. In particular, this includes data preparation, documentation and data organization, storage in the research process and beyond, as well as publication and (long-term) archiving.

Research data management ensures the organizational structure of digital research data, its (re-)usability and archiving. The planned and structured handling of research data offers various advantages:

• The rules of good scientific practice are respected and the transparency and validity of the data are guaranteed.
• The requirements of funders are met: More and more research funders are demanding binding statements on the handling of research data generated as part of the research project. This increasingly requires the creation of data management plans.
• Data loss is prevented.
• Redundant data collection can be avoided.
• Scientific exchange is promoted and visibility is increased through the publication of research data.

Research data policies are guidelines that define the procedures to be used in research data management for an institution or discipline. They therefore provide important guidance for handling research data.
Research data policies also exist in the funding programs of the DFG and the EU. The "FAIR Principles" from the Horizon 2020 report are of fundamental importance for sustainably usable research data.

OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts is committed to the responsible handling of research data.
All principles for handling research data can be found in the Research Data Policy of the OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts dated July 9, 2024 (Forschungsdaten-Policy der Technischen Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe vom 9. Juli 2024).

Independently of the research data policies of individual institutions, further policies have developed as disciplinary or interdisciplinary policies or as journal guidelines. These policies define the standards for the respective research field and vary depending on the disciplinary focus, the traditional handling of data and the heterogeneity of the scientific data. 
The following subject-specific recommendations may also be relevant for research areas at the TH OWL:

• “Material Science” Review Board on the handling of research data (Handlungsempfehlung zum Umgang mit Forschungsdaten des Fachforum Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik)
• Guidelines for handling research data in biodiversity research (Richtlinien zum Umgang mit Forschungsdaten in der Biodiversitätsforschung)
• Research data management in the social, behavioral and economic sciences - Council for Social and Economic Data (Forschungsdatenmanagement in den Sozial-, Verhaltens- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Rat für Sozial- und WirtschaftsDaten)
• Economics Review Board of the German Research Foundation (DFG) on the handling of research data
• Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN): TERN Data Licensing Policy

There are good reasons for publishing research data and keeping it available in the long term. Publication makes research data citable and thus gives the scientific results obtained greater visibility overall. Studies have shown that publications are cited more often when the underlying data is public. In addition, various sponsors and funders also recommend or require data publication.
Before publishing data, it must always be clarified whether the research data may be published or whether there are legal reasons against it. You can find information with decision support at forschungsdaten.info and in the Licensing section. If publication is legally possible, you should select a suitable repository, a storage location for your digital data. Metadata and documentation ensure that public research data can be found easily.

So-called repositories are available for publishing your research data. In addition to institutional and generic repositories, which are designed for use across disciplines and methods, there are various domain-specific repositories that you can use to publish your data. These subject repositories have been established worldwide in recent years. If there is a subject repository in your discipline, we recommend that you use this discipline-specific repository.

To find a suitable repository for your research data, browse the global register re3data.org by subject. The Repository Finder, which only contains subject repositories that follow the FAIR-Principles, works in a similar way.

You can get a first impression of a subject repository from these well-known repositories:

• Subject repository agriculture and ecology: BonaRes Repository
• Subject repository architecture and civil engineering: ING.EST
• Subject repository geosciences: PANGAEA
• Subject repository life sciences: Publisso
• Subject repository media science: media/rep/
• Subject repository for social and economic sciences: datorium

In order to use and publish research data in a meaningful way, comprehensible documentation is required. Metadata can be used to describe research data in order to optimize its findability. The basic information includes details of the title, researcher, institution, location, time period, subject, rights, file names, formats, etc. Standardized elements for describing data are compiled in metadata schemas, ensure a uniform and comprehensible description and thus enable the data to be found, reused and cited. Specific metadata schemas are already available in some disciplines

• Natural sciences: ICAT Schema, Conventions for climate und Forecast metadata, Darwin Core
• Social and economic sciences: Digital Documentation Initiative (DDI)

If no discipline-specific schema is available, a discipline-independent schema can also be used

• Dublin Core

The DataCite Metadata Scheme has now established itself globally and is supported by most major data repositories. The DataCite Metadata Generator is an online tool that allows metadata to be collected in a structured manner based on the DataCite scheme.

There are various legal aspects to consider when publishing and using research data.

• Who may decide on the disclosure and publication of research data, who owns the rights?
  In this case, the contractual relationships between researchers, employers, clients and research funders are decisive in determining who may or must be consulted. For an overview of the important legal aspects of publishing research data, visit forschungsdaten.info
• What data protection restrictions must be respected?
  If personal data is used in research, it is subject to particularly strict regulations regarding archiving, provision and publication
• If data is published under a specific license, this specifies in detail which form of use is permitted. This regulation creates legal certainty for both researchers and users of research data. There are already various licensing models that regulate usage rights in a standardized way. The Creative Commons licenses are widely used. The Open Data Commons license package, which offers various models, has been developed specifically for the area of data publication. The CC-BY license (condition of attribution) is best suited to the idea of open access and open science.

Stay visible!
You can achieve sustainable use of research data and publications by using persistent identifiers. A persistent identifier is a code consisting of numbers and/or alphanumeric characters that is assigned to a data set or a digital object and permanently and uniquely refers to this content.

• Für Forschungsdaten haben sich sowohl national als auch international als persistente Identifikatoren durchgesetzt.
  Digital Object Identifier (DOI) have become established as persistent identifiers for research data both nationally and internationally.
• Another well-known system for persistent identification is the Uniform Resource Name (URN), although this is only used for publications and is mainly used in Germany and Europe.
• Researchers themselves and publishers can be uniquely identified internationally via the Open Research and Contributor (ORCID)-ID. This allows not only works to be clearly assigned to a person, but also affiliations to organizations and contributions to other works to be documented.