Good Practice: DMP Checklist
A data management plan (DMP) is a living document that outlines how data will be managed during a research project, as well as after the project is completed. It is a requirement for all UCT postgraduate students.
In order to assist students with completing a DMP, DLS manages the UCT DMP platform. This UCT-hosted platform allows users to create data management plans based on our custom-created templates, containing guidance, examples and suggested answers.
As a student, you can log in to the platform using your Single-Sign-On (SSO). When creating a new plan, we recommend that you use the following settings to generate the UCT Student Generic DMP (Replace "Masters Disseration" with your thesis title):
Create your DMP today
The checklist below is a guideline to help researchers plan for their data using best practices.
It covers the most common sections needed for completing a DMP.
View the RDM libguide for more assistance or download printable copy of the checklist .
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Create an outline of your research project and identify all involved parties by including basic details:
- Project title
- Project summary
- Researcher ID
- Funding agency
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Consider these questions for data collection
- Qualitative or Quantitative?
- What methods will I be using?
- Are there community data standards I should use?
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What about the future of your data? Ask yourself:
- How will I store and back up my data?
- What are my plans for long-term archiving?
- What metadata standards will I use to describe my data?
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Are there are legal issues pertaining to my data?
- Is my data sensitive or at risk?
- Do I need restrictions on my data?
- Do I need encryption or password controlled access?
- Do I need ethical clearance?
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How will the rest of the world access it? Think about:
- Who owns the data?
- Can the data produced be re-used and shared?
- How will my data be shared and under which license?
- Which repositories will I store my data in for others to access?
