Data Stewardship & the Research Data Lifecycle
This sub-cluster is the entry point for research data management as a field: the foundational concepts and vocabulary that the more specific sub-clusters in this section build on. Its organizing framework is the Digital Curation Centre's (DCC) Curation Lifecycle Model, which breaks the handling of research data into a sequence of stages, conceptualise, create or receive, appraise and select, ingest, preservation action, store, and access, use, and reuse, that together describe everything that happens to a dataset from before it exists to long after the project that produced it has ended. Treating data management as a lifecycle rather than a single event is deliberate: it makes clear that planning (covered elsewhere in this section under data management plans), description (metadata and provenance), storage (repositories and preservation), and reuse (FAIR and licensing) are stages of one continuous process rather than separate obligations, and that stewardship, the ongoing professional responsibility for a dataset's quality and accessibility, spans all of them rather than ending at deposit. This sub-cluster also covers the roles that carry out this work, including data stewards, data curators, and data librarians, and how these functions are typically distributed between researchers, institutional data offices, and repository staff. For a research administrator new to this area, pages here are the right starting point: they introduce the lifecycle stages, define the stewardship roles and responsibilities involved, and point toward the more specific sub-clusters, planning, metadata, repositories, FAIR and licensing, privacy, and reproducibility, that treat each stage of the lifecycle in depth.
Guides
Allen Brain Map: Data Sharing, Licensing, and Citation for Data Management Plans
How to treat Allen Brain Map correctly in a Data Management Plan: its custom noncommercial-use license, citation requirements, and what it does and doesn’t satisfy for funder open-data mandates.
PsychArchives: The Leibniz Institute’s Open-Science Repository for Psychology
PsychArchives is the Leibniz Institute for Psychology’s (ZPID) free, disciplinary repository for psychology research outputs — articles, data, code, preregistrations, and more — with DataCite DOIs, tiered access levels, and formal ties to the German Psychological Society and Hogrefe.
Research Data MANTRA: Free RDM Training Course for Researchers
MANTRA is a free, self-paced online course in research data management from the University of Edinburgh, covering planning, organizing, archiving, security, sensitive data, and FAIR sharing.
ProteomeXchange: The Proteomics Repository Consortium and PXD Accession Numbers
ProteomeXchange is the international consortium that coordinates the world’s mass spectrometry proteomics repositories under a single PXD accession-number system. This guide explains how it works, who its members are, what submission requires, and how it maps to journal data-availability policies.
Electronic Lab Notebook Validation Under 21 CFR Part 11 and GxP
A practical guide to validating an electronic lab notebook (ELN) for regulated GxP research: 21 CFR Part 11 requirements, the IQ/OQ/PQ computer system validation lifecycle, GAMP 5, audit trail review, and cloud/SaaS considerations.
NFDI: Germany’s National Research Data Infrastructure Explained
NFDI is Germany’s federated, DFG-funded national research data infrastructure, made up of 26 discipline-specific consortia and shared services coordinated by NFDI e.V. This guide covers its structure, funding, governance, and place in the wider FAIR-data and EOSC landscape.
DAMA CDMP Certification for Research Data Management Professionals
What DAMA’s CDMP certification actually covers, its three exam tiers and costs, and an honest look at how well it maps onto research data steward and RDM roles versus generic enterprise data management.
KoBoToolbox and Mobile Data-Collection Tools for Field Research
KoBoToolbox is a free, open-source, offline-first mobile survey tool built by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative for field research, humanitarian response, and social-science surveys — distinct from regulated clinical trial EDC systems like REDCap or Medidata Rave.
Free and Open-Source Electronic Lab Notebooks: eLabFTW, Chemotion, and openBIS
A focused survey of genuinely open-source and free electronic lab notebook options — eLabFTW, Chemotion ELN, openBIS, and Jupyter-based DIY records — with licensing, discipline fit, and self-hosting trade-offs.
SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics): What It Is, Who Uses It, and How It Fits into an RDM Workflow
SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics) is a statistical analysis software package widely used in social science and health research. This guide covers what it does, who uses it, and how it fits into a research data management workflow.
NVivo: Qualitative Data Analysis Software for Research
NVivo is qualitative data analysis (QDA) software for coding, organizing, and querying interview transcripts, focus groups, and other unstructured research data. Here is how it works and where it fits in an RDM workflow.
Research Data Governance: Roles, Policies, and Lifecycle Frameworks
What research data governance means, the roles it assigns (owner, steward, custodian, user), the policy layer it sits on top of, and the lifecycle frameworks used to operationalize it.
Design of Experiments (DOE): A Guide for Researchers
Design of Experiments (DOE) is the statistical methodology for planning controlled tests so factor effects can be estimated efficiently. This guide covers its core principles, common design types, and what it means for research data management.
Types of Research Data: A Taxonomy for Data Management Planning
A practical taxonomy of research data types—by form, generation method, and sensitivity—and why each distinction changes what a data management plan and repository selection actually require.
Data Curation Tools: What Researchers and RDM Staff Actually Use
A survey of the real software and services used for research data curation: repository-integrated review workflows (Dataverse, Figshare, Dryad, DSpace, CKAN), standalone cleaning and validation tools (OpenRefine, Frictionless Data), and institutional curation services like the Data Curation Network.
ISO 15489: Records Management Concepts and Principles for Research Institutions
ISO 15489 is the international standard defining what makes an institutional record authentic and trustworthy, and how retention/disposition decisions should be made — distinct from research-data standards like DMPs and FAIR.
The Life Cycle of a Research Project: From Idea to Archive
A stage-by-stage walkthrough of the research project life cycle — idea, proposal and funding, ethics setup, execution, dissemination, and archiving — and how it differs from the narrower research data lifecycle.
Lab Notebook Software: How to Choose an Electronic Lab Notebook
How to choose an electronic lab notebook: the evaluation criteria that actually matter (compliance, IP documentation, export, hosting), the major platform categories, and where free/open-source options like eLabFTW genuinely hold up.
NIH Open Access Publishing Fee Limits: The Proposed APC Cap Explained
NIH has proposed, but not yet finalized, a cap on how much grant funding can go toward open access publishing fees (APCs). This guide covers the proposed options, timeline, and how it differs from the NIH Public Access Policy.
Research Software Engineer (RSE): Role Definition and Research-Computing Administration
What a Research Software Engineer (RSE) is, how the role differs from IT/HPC and data-science staff, and how research-computing administrators structure, budget, and credit the position.
National Data Library: What It Is and What It Means for RDM
The UK’s National Data Library (NDL) isn’t a research repository — it’s a DSIT-led public data initiative. Here’s what it is, how it’s funded, and what its research-facing components mean for RDM.
The Research Data Lifecycle: From Collection Through Archiving and Reuse
A stage-by-stage walk through the research data lifecycle — planning, collection, processing, analysis, sharing, preservation, and reuse — linking to CASRAI’s existing DMP, FAIR, repository, and CRIS content at the point each applies.
Data Stewardship and the Data Curator Role in Research
What data stewards and data curators actually do day to day, how the role differs from a data manager or data librarian, and where it typically sits in a research institution.
