From planning to practice: an action plan for the implementation of research data management services in resource-constrained institutions

Abstract

Research data management (RDM) and its accompanying services and infrastructures are predominantly still in a state of infancy in many African countries and little is known about the RDM habits of the researchers from these areas. Our research showed that researcher RDM behaviour is similar across the globe, but our experience was that the will to implement formal RDM is not. Similarly, the responsibility for RDM implementation is not always clear. What is clear is that, although the library should not assume primary responsibility, it does have a role to play in the successful implementation of RDM services. This paper briefly discusses the results of two RDM surveys conducted at a relatively resource-constrained, albeit leading, South African research institute. The surveys were designed to establish the RDM habits as well as the RDM needs as expressed by both emerging and experienced researchers at the stated institute. The intention was to use the results to initiate full-scale implementation of RDM services by the library. It was interesting to note that neither the emerging nor the experienced researchers showed significant deviations in research behaviour compared to that found amongst their colleagues in more well-resourced environments. What was different is that implementation grinded to a halt and that an action plan that deviated from that in published literature had to be developed so that relevant progress could still be made. This RDM action plan includes a range of stakeholders and would be of use to research institutes starting out on the RDM journey.

Data Sharing Practices among Researchers at South African Universities

“…In the JISC study, only 33% of researchers were already sharing data while 35% expressed a willingness to share data in future. Patterton et al (2018) on the other hand determined that 12% of emerging researchers were not willing to share their data.…”

“…A study conducted by Onyancha (2016) showed that South Africa published close to 64% of all data published by Sub-Saharan African countries in the Data Citation Index hosted by Web-of-Science from 2009 to 2014. Despite this, there is currently scant evidence of the willingness, extent, concerns and practices of sharing data by South African researchers (Patterton et al 2018). The few studies conducted in South Africa in this area focus on data sharing practices of certain disciplines (Koopman & de Jager 2016).…”

Research data management literacy amongst lecturers at Strathmore University, Kenya

“…According to a study conducted by Patterton et al (2018) in a number of research institutes in Sub-Saharan Africa found that experienced as well as emerging researchers made use of many different data types, both groups totalling more than 15 types. The most common data formats across both groups were spreadsheets, image files and textual data formats.…”

“…According to Patterton et al (2018), there is a high willingness to share data with peers. This can be used to build confidence in researchers to promote seamless data sharing within teams before venturing outside.…”

Research Support Services in STEM Libraries: A Scoping Review

“…Study authors evaluated data management service success through patron surveys (Read 2007;Choudhury 2013), attendance data for instructional sessions and consultations (Shen & Varvel 2013;Higman et al 2017), number of training sessions (Oliver et al 2019) and the growth of data in institutional repositories (Choudhury 2017). To plan the data management services, researchers' data practices were evaluated in two studies (Walters 2009;Patterton et al 2018). Lessons learned were described in two studies providing insights and challenges for creating a new service (Choudhury 2013;Ogier & Stamper 2018).…”