The book comprises the following sections:
the importance of managing and sharing research data;
the research data lifecycle;
research data management (RDM) planning;
documenting and providing context for data;
formatting and organizing data;
storing and transferring data;
legal and ethical issues in sharing data;
rights relating to research data;
collaborative research: data management strategies for research teams and research managers;
making use of other people’s research data: opportunities and limitations; and
publishing and citing research data.
The text includes case studies, exercises with matching discussion/or answers, and numerous references.
The authors are leading experts in this field. They work for the UK Data Archive (UKDA), the UK repository for digital research data in the social sciences and humanities. The UKDA is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, the JISC and the University of Essex.
The UKDA has published for many years on their website detailed guidance for managing and sharing research data, as well as training resources. This is a key resource for researchers as well as lecturers in RDM. Does this book offer something different? It certainly does. It is a teaching text, with logically organized sections to take the reader step by step through all the aspects of RDM. Each section provides the reader with an introduction to the topic, followed by the necessary information to manage the topic, supported by case studies and references. Then there are exercises to enable the reader to consolidate and assess their learning, with discussion and/or answers. Having discussion as feedback to exercises was a good touch as simple answers to RDM issues are often not appropriate or sufficient. The authors’ expertise is in the social sciences and humanities, covering both qualitative and quantitative data, so the book is of particular relevance to those disciplines. There are also many aspects of the book that will be of use to scientists. However, it would benefit from an additional chapter addressing issues specific to scientific data. My only minor criticism is about the section on researchers’ concerns about sharing data, pages 10-14. These are dismissed as fear of the unknown and lack of understanding. However, though the majority of research data can be made appropriate for sharing (and researchers do need to learn how to manage data for that purpose) there are instances where this is not possible or appropriate. This could be acknowledged.
This book is an excellent resource for those unfamiliar with RDM practice, but particularly for PhD students and early career researchers. It will also be valuable to students in the information/records management disciplines, where RDM provides new career opportunities and roles. For lecturers teaching an RDM module, this book is very appropriate as a recommended or required course text. Additionally, even for people knowledgeable about RDM, this book provides a wealth of useful information. I highly recommend this book and hope that the authors, and the publisher, are planning for the book to become a staple, with regular new editions.
