Using Data Manager
What is a Data Management Plan and why do I need one?
Data Management Plans are living documents that are designed to help you manage your research data throughout your project and set guidelines for its usage and management after the project is completed.
CQUniversity requires a Data Management Plan (DMP) to be created for every research project undertaken by both staff and students. University policy also requires that plans are reviewed annually to ensure they are up to date.
Data Management Plans are created using CQUniversity Data Manager.
What is Data Manager and how do I access it?
Data Manager will assist you in managing your research data from the beginning of your project onwards.
Data Manager includes 2 different forms that will support different steps of your research journey:
- The Data Management Plan (DMP), a living document that will evolve as you work with your data (creating, manipulating or analysing it).
- Dataset records will be made for distinct sets of data when they are completed. There may be a single dataset associated with the research project (this is normally the case for RHD projects) or multiple datasets (for example, if distinct data is collected annually). The dataset record is also used to publish a record of your dataset (either with or without the data itself) to our Institutional repository aCQUIRe, directly through Data Manager.
Data Manager can be accessed from datamanager.cqu.edu.au
RHD students please note: You will need to use your affiliate log in (your cqu.edu.au email) to access the system.
Why should I publish my research data?
Publishing your research data can provide many potential benefits:
- Potential for increased citations and collaborations
- Many grants require that associated data is published
- Allow for independent verification of your results
- Allow for expansion of your research both within your field of study and across disciplines
- Linking a dataset record to a publication record will provide alternative access points.
Datasets can be published to CQUniversity’s institutional repository, aCQUIRe, by creating a dataset record and filling in the Publish Tab. Your dataset will be then published to aCQUIRe, where it will also be discoverable in Google Dataset Search, Figshare.com and Research Data Australia.
The 3 ways to publish your dataset
Anyone will be able to download and reuse the data based on the included license.
The data will only be able to be download with permission of the Primary Investigator, which is managed within aCQUIRe itself.
The record does not contain the actual research data itself, but it allows others to see that the data exists.
Learn how to use Data Manager
The library has developed 2 videos to take you step by step through using Data Manager. Checklists have also been provide to help with key steps of the process.
Welcome to Data Manager
The Welcome to Data Manager video will guide you through the creation of your Data Management Plan, how to maintain it throughout your research project and creating a Dataset record.
To create your RDMP for the first time to obtain access to data storage make sure to complete the First time RDMP submission checklist.
Publishing your dataset
The Publishing your dataset video will demonstrate how to publish your dataset using Data Manager.
The Data publishing checklist will give guidance on how to prepare a dataset record for publication within Data Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
Prior to uploading the data to aCQUIRe you will need to create a Data Publication Record via CQUniversity Data Manager.
Once the Data Publication record has been submitted for review, add the files to aCQUIRe using the following steps:
- Go to aCQUIRe
- Click the red Log in link at the top right hand side of the screen.
- Enter your university assigned username and password and click Login.
- Click on the Title of the dataset you need to add files to.
- Untick the metadata only checkbox at the top of the pop up.
- Upload your files. You can either:
- Click the red browse link at the top of the page and select the files to upload.
- or, drag the files onto the box with the dotted border at the top of the page.
- Wait for the files to upload. This may take some time. All files will be listed with their File Size next to their name.
- Tick Publish. You will be prompted to check the licence you've assigned and the terms of use.
- Click Save Changes.
If you have any questions, please email my-librarian@cqu.edu.au
Research data can be published directly to CQUniversity’s institution repository, aCQUIRe, via Data Manager. When you publish a dataset to aCQUIRe it will receive a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) which will facilitate access to the data.
For data published via Open or Mediated Access a license must be applied to indicate how the data can be re-used. The most common license for datasets is the Creative Commons (CC) license. There are a number of different elements in a Creative Commons license, as outlined below.
The default element: CC-BY – The base for all licenses and the most open. Allows for reuse and adaptation with citation.
Three other elements can be added to the CC-BY license in any combination:
- NC – Non-Commercial – The content cannot be used for any commercial purposes like resale or advertising.
- ND – Non-Derivative – The content cannot be changed or modified in any way and must be used in its entirety, without the user obtaining additional permission from you. (This is NOT recommended for research data as it significantly limits the usability of the data for further study).
- SA – Share Alike – Any work created using this content must also be shared under the same CC license.
Further information about these license options can be viewed at http://creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/licences.
For code and software datasets there are some other license types that may be more suitable. Click on any license to see more details about it:
Key Links
Report problems with Data Manager
Please contact TaSAC if you have any issues with Data Manager. Login required.
Working with sensitive data
Learn more about how to manage and identify sensitive data used in your research projects.
eResearch @ CQUniversity
Visit the eResearch page for guidance on data storage, collaboration, high performance computing or data analysis tools.
