Research Data Life cycle
Research data management (or RDM) is a term that describes the organization, storage,preservation, and sharing of data collected and used in a research project.It involves the everyday management of research data during the lifetime of a research project (for example, using consistent file naming conventions).It also involves decisions about how data will be preserved and shared after the project is completed (for example, depositing the data in a repository for long-term archiving and access).
”Data is whatever you use to conclude results"
Research Data Life cycle adatpted from DataOne by Wits Data services with thanks to Susie Allard
The data life cycle provides a high level overview of the stages involved in successful management and preservation of data for use and reuse. Multiple versions of a data life cycle exist with differences attributable to variation in practices across domains or communities.
Research Data Life cycle has eight components:
Some research activities might use only part of the life cycle; for instance, a project involving meta-analysis might focus on the Discover, Integrate, and Analyze steps, while a project focused on primary data collection and analysis might bypass the Discover and Integrate steps. In addition, other projects might not follow the linear path depicted here, or multiple revolutions of the cycle might be necessary. Further, some scientists or teams (e.g. those engaged in modeling and synthesis) may create new data in the process of discovering, integrating, analyzing, and synthesizing existing data.