AN RDM SERVICE FOR HEALTH RESEARCHERS

A case study of work performed at LSHTM

This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution 2.0

UK: England & Wales License

Gareth KnightLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

gareth.knight@lshtm.ac.uk

Research Data Services workshop30 June 2015

Overview

1. Institutional context

2. Motivation for establishing an RDM Service

3. Determining needs and building support structure

4. Enhancing RDM Practice

5. Next steps and conclusion

London School ofHygiene & Tropical Medicine

• Postgraduate institute for research and education in public health & tropical medicine

• Research funding exceeds £60 million a year

• Recognised as one of world’s highest rated universities for collaborative research

• 4000 students & 1,300 staff workingin 100+ countries

Research Data Initiative 2009-11

Researcher as initial champion:• Personal pride: High-quality data should be produced & made available• Support requirement: Huge time commitment to support end user

Research Data Working Group• Established in Feb 2010 to:

– advise institution on RDM/Open Data development– Produce recommendations for next steps

• Membership comprised of research staff,librarians, archivists, and other staff

• ‘Raising Standards’ Study Recommendationsfully accepted by SMT in mid 2011

Report available: http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/rdmss/outputs/

RDM Support ServiceBroad remit to enhance data management practice

and improve infrastructure within institution

• Located in Library & Archives Service

• Funded by:– Wellcome Trust ISSF: 2012 – 15– Central funding: 2015 onwards

• RDM Steering Group provides direction on a Management by Exception (MbE) basis

Project Blog: http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/rdmss/outputs/ RDM Website: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/researchdataman/

RDM Service Challenges

Reaching audience• Many researchers work overseas

for 50% / 100% of time• Too busy to respond to emails /

telephone

Establishing buy-in• What are the benefits?• Many researchers are supported

by funding with no data management requirements

• Uncertainty on how it applies to their field

Providing domain expertise• Scientific discipline requires

years of study & have specific language

• Specialised tools & resources – limited conversion options and few recognised preservation formats

Dealing with conflicting requirements

• What do you do when funders & governments disagree?

Supporting collaborative research

• What support should/can you provide to collaborators at other institutions?

Managing withlimited resources

• Staff must support large no. of researchers

• Time commitment for one-to-one support

Establishing buy-inTailoring message to key stakeholders

Researchers &Data Creators

Improve likelihood of research funding

Potential to use data in further research

Fulfil publisher obligations & achieve higher rate of citation

Save time & effort

Principal Investigators

& Head of Dept

Contribution to “reproducible research”

agenda

Enhanced data handling practice & less

duplication of effort

Greater take-up of research outputs in research & teaching

Senior Management

Better able to achieve strategic goals to maximise

research impact

Build capacity within institution & collaborators

Remain competitive with other institutions

Ensure compliance with regulatory and

contractual obligations

Requirements Gathering

Survey/interviews with researchersResearch Data WG report

Funder & Regulators

http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/rdmss/outputs/ http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/researchdataman/

Advisory bodies

Resource developmentProviding RDM support using limited resources

Plan proposal

Project Start

Project End

Possible deletion

Identify RDM

resources

Develop funder DMP

Create & store data

Journal data needs

Data sharing

agreementPrepare data for deposit

Data description

Preservation & sharing Qs

RDM Website Training sessions RDM videos

Responding to evolving needs

Support requests:• Monitor demand over time

– 88 (2013)– 120 (2014)– 69 (Jan-May 2015)

• Produce/Update guidance to reflectcommon questions

Data Management Plans• Tailored feedback on request• Produce sample DMPs for common funders

http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/researchdataman/plan/

Top 10 RDM topics raised in 2014http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/rdmss/support-planning/

Enhancing RDM Practice

Mandate that projects without a funder DMP obligation should produce a institutional DMP

Strategy for minimising resource allocation:

1. Prioritise key projects: LSHTM-led projects are mandated, consultancies & others encouraged

2. Avoid duplication: Allow projects to submit a Research Protocol or other DMP if they have produced one

3. Acquire DMPs for funded projects only: Analysis of 2013 funding bids found that:– 247 met eligibility criteria at pre-award– 97 met eligibility criteria at post-award

Ensure Data Management is considered from outset

End of project support

Guidance on ‘data archiving’ process:

• (re)familiarisation with funder/publisher requirements

• Prepare data for transfer– Redaction, – Formats & documentation– Access controls & licences

• Locating appropriate repository– Domain repository preferred– LSHTM data repository for non-

sensitive ‘homeless data’

Liaise with projects in final 3 months of funding

http://datacompass.lshtm.ac.uk/

Next Steps

Operate ‘business as usual’ service:• RDM ‘Help desk’

• Promote & populate research data repository

• Development of tutorials, guides & other resources

Consult with key stakeholders to identify additional topics:• Integration of repository with infrastructure (such as CRIS)

• Case studies on ‘Cradle to grave’ data management in specific depts/environments

• Case studies on working with sensitive data

Concluding thoughts

• Institutional size simplifies process of introducing new policy– Remains a need to present at various groups & obtain broad acceptance

• Health researchers recognise importance of data to their work, but still need to be convinced to apply specific practices

• Effective use of staff resources is essential to support varied research needs

• Data Manager/researcher collaboration is necessary to tailor resources to specific fields

Thank You for your attention!

Gareth Knight.Project Manager, LSHTM Research Data Management ServiceEmail: gareth.knight@lshtm.ac.uk

Questions