Research Data Management

Research data management includes all activities and practices throughout the research life-cycle that keep data safe and support their long-term preservation, access, and use.

Data management activities can include:

• Planning & documenting 
• Collecting 
• Storing 
• Analyzing 
• Visualizing
• Curating
• Preserving 

Many federal funding agencies and government entities require data to be made available after the completion of a funded research project. These agencies may also require transparency of project operations, which means that data management plans must be outlined, submitted, and approved during the initial proposal process for every research project.

You may have special research data management requirements for your project, and compliance may be complex. Take a look at the sections on Preserving & Sharing Data and Data Security & Data Use Agreements for more information.

Need help with research data management?

Contact us for support with any of these elements at libdata@gwu.edu or book an appointment with a data services librarian.

Data management ensures that: 

• Data are preserved for future researchers to discover, interpret, and reuse
• The value of the data is sustained by allowing access and secondary analysis
• Researchers manage, organize, and maintain security of their data
• Research projects maintain the required level of transparency set by their funding agencies, journal publishers, or research institutions