Abstract

Objective: Cornell University’s Research Data Management Service Group (RDMSG) surveyed NSF principal investigators (PIs) at Cornell in order to understand how well-prepared researchers are to meet the new NSF data management planning requirement, to build our own understanding of the potential impact on campus services, and to identify service gaps. Methods: We administered a 43-question online survey, which included questions about the respondents’ research and research data, their interest in assistance with the creation of data management plans, and questions for each of the five general areas cited in the NSF’s Grant Proposal Guide (2011) section on data management plans. Results and Discussion: Respondents produce a wide variety of types and formats of data, although most expect to share relatively small amounts of data. Respondents are generally uncertain as to whether the data they produce conforms to disciplinary standards. The majority create no metadata; of those that do, most do not create metadata according to a particular standard. Most researchers do not express a need for advice regarding intellectual property issues. Researchers report using a variety of strategies (oncampus and commercial) for backing up and for providing access to their data sets. Conclusions: The overarching finding from our survey is that there is much uncertainty about what the new requirement means and how to meet it, and researchers welcome offers of assistance. To the extent that Cornell researchers are representative of NSF PIs, our findings reveal something about researchers’ readiness to meet the new requirement, and their attitudes towards it. Correspondence to Gail Steinhart: gss1@cornell.edu

Highlights

  • In 2009, the report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data, a group including representatives of more than two dozen federal agencies, made clear the desire of U.S government research funders to maximize the return on the research they fund by developing a strategic framework to promote preservation of and access to digital data

  • To the extent that Cornell researchers are representative of National Science Foundation (NSF) principal investigators (PIs), our findings reveal something about researchers’ readiness to meet the new requirement, and their attitudes towards it

  • We developed a set of questions for each of the five general areas cited in the NSF’s Grant Proposal Guide (2011) section on data management plans: types of data and other materials to be produced, standards used for data and metadata, policies and provisions for access, sharing, confidentiality, security, and intellectual property, policies and provisions for re-use and re-distribution, and plans for archiving and preserving access to data and other materials

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Summary

Introduction

In 2009, the report of the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data, a group including representatives of more than two dozen federal agencies, made clear the desire of U.S government research funders to maximize the return on the research they fund by developing a strategic framework to promote preservation of and access to digital data. The report included the recommendation that agencies promote data management planning, and offered specific suggestions for the kinds of information data management plans might include. This general sentiment has since been echoed in The Open Government Partnership’s National Action Plan for the United States of America (2011). In May 2010, the U.S National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a press release announcing its intention to require data management plans with all grant proposals With the NSF’s 2010 announcement that all grant proposals would require a data management plan (DMP), Cornell realized it was time to formalize collaborations among units across campus to more effectively support the data management needs of researchers. Under sponsorship of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the University Librarian, the Research Data

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