
Writing a data management plan: best practice
There are also a number of common elements that should be considered when developing a file naming strategy, including:
- Version number
- Date of creation
- Name of creator
- Description of content
- Name of research team or department associated with the data
- Publication date
- Project number
- Do not use generic data file names that may conflict when moved from one location to another. Ensure filenames are independent of location and if you work on more than one computer ensure that your files are synchronised.
- File names should outlast the data file creator who originally named the file.
- Consider how scalable your data file naming policy needs to be. For example, if you want to include the project number, don't limit your project number to two digits, or you can only have ninety nine projects.