Science Europe publishes its recommendations for research data management

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Science Europe has published recommendations on research data management (RDM). As a member of Science Europe, the SNSF supports this initiative.

​Science Europe has published recommendations aimed at encouraging the voluntary alignment of RDM policies among funders in Europe. The SNSF has contributed to and supports this initiative

Key requirements for data management plans

Many funding organisations, among them the SNSF, have started to request data management plans (DMPs) as part of their open research data (ORD) policies. The Science Europe working group on research data has now elaborated core requirements for DMPs which provide funders, research organisations and communities with a basis on which to develop adequate RDM policies. The document only presents minimum requirements, leaving enough flexibility for stakeholders to develop policies in line with their specific disciplinary needs.

Criteria for selecting reliable repositories

Considering that research funders, organisations and journals increasingly request data sharing, researchers need to be able to identify suitable repositories in which the data is findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable.

There is no list of such repositories and not all of them have been certified by an independent certification body. But now researchers can use the criteria defined by Science Europe to select a reliable repository. And organisations can integrate the above-mentioned recommendations into their own ORD guidelines. For instance, Science Europe encourages European funders to adopt the FAIR principles, which have already been included in the SNSF’s ORD policy.

Practical guide on RDMExternal Link Icon