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Writing a data management plan: best practice

Research data files and folders need to be labelled and organised in a systematic way so that they are both identifiable and accessible for current and future users.

The benefits of consistent data file labelling are:

  • Data files are distinguishable from each other within their containing folder
  • Data file naming prevents confusion when multiple people are working on shared files
  • Data files are easier to locate and browse
  • Data files can be retrieved not only by the creator but by other users
  • Data files can be sorted in logical sequence
  • Data files are not accidentally overwritten or deleted
  • Different versions of data files can be identified
  • If data files are moved to other storage platform their names will retain useful context

There are three main criteria to consider regarding the naming and labelling of research data files, namely:

  • Organisation - important for future access and retrieval
  • Context - this could include content specific or descriptive information independent of where the data is stored
  • Consistency - choose a naming convention and ensure that the rules are followed systematically by always including the same information (such as date and time) in the same order (e.g. YYYYMMDD)
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PILOT - Writing a data management plan by Edina, University of Edinburgh modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/introduction.html