Introduction to r esearch data management - a physical science case study

1. Introduction to research data management- a physical science case study Slides provided by DaMaRO Project, University of Oxford

2. The researcher • Dr Richard Goulden, a British Heart Foundation funded postdoc in the Department of Chemistry • Working with Chemical Biology and Analytical Chemistry research groups • Uses analytical chemistry methods to study biological molecules related to diseases • Involves using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study a family of enzymes called the 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) oxygenase

3. The dataset • Data collected using Bruker NMR instruments • Raw data stored in the Bruker data format • Analysed using BrukerTopSpin software or CCPNmr Analysis software • Analysed data stored in Excel spreadsheets (for quantitative studies) and PowerPoint files (for qualitative studies) • Most analysed data also stored in printed format in lab books • Roughly 50 GB of data generated in the last year

4. Storage and back-up strategy • Raw data from the NMR instruments are stored on the instrument PC, which is backed up every couple of months to DVDs • Much raw data also transferred to desktop computers – usually stored on external hard drives • Analysed data (e.g. Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint files) are stored in a shared folder on a departmental server which is backed up daily • Lab books are stored inside the laboratory in locked cupboards

5. File naming strategies • Order by date: 2013-04-12_analysis_ASPH.xlsx 2013-04-12_raw-data_ASPH.txt 2012-12-15_analysis_JARID1A.xlsx 2012-12-15_raw-data_JARID1A.txt • Order by subject: ASPH_analysis_2012-12-15.xlsx ASPH_raw-data_2012-12-15.txt JARID1A_analysis_2013-04-12.xlsx JARID1A_raw-data_2013-04-12.txt • Order by type: Analysis_ASPH_2012-12-15.xlsx Analysis_JARID1A_2013-04-12.xlsx Raw-data_ASPH_2012-12-15.txt Raw-data_JARID1A_2013-04-12.txt • Forced order with numbering: 01_JARID1A_raw-data_2013-04-12.txt 02_JARID1A_analysis_2013-04-12.xlsx 03_ASPH_raw-data_2012-12-15.txt 04_ASPH_analysis_2012-12-15.xlsx

6. File naming strategies In retrospect I am not very happy with the method I used for naming files. The biggest problem was with the newspaper articles I downloaded… I named the files only based on the topic of the article, without mentioning the name of the periodical and the year of publication, which would have been very useful later, when I began writing the thesis. – Doctoral student researching communication history

7. Metadata – data about data • A formal, structured description of a dataset • Used by archives to create catalogue records

8. Data preservation and sharing plan • Analysed data available to everyone in research group via shared folder • Data relating to journal papers included as supplemental information (e.g. in table format) • Researcher is also an active Wikipedia contributor, and updates relevant articles once findings are published • Data will be ultimately be deposited in the BMRB (Biological Magnetic Resonance Bank)

9. Rights and re-use • This slideshow is part of a series of research data management training resources prepared by the DaMaRO Project at the University of Oxford • It is based on information about real research projects provided by the academics who worked on them – though all names have been changed, and case studies may have been edited, amplified, or combined • The slideshow is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License • Within the terms of this licence, we actively encourage sharing, adaptation, and re-use of this material