Figure 1
Process to develop RDM Plans via the RDM+PM Checklist.
Figure 2
Architectural design of the RDM+PM Checklist.
Table 1
Architectural components of the RDM+PM Checklist.
| REF | BUILDING BLOCK | CHARACTERISTICS |
|---|---|---|
| AC-01 | WAF | Web Application Firewall: protects application and AC-06, AC-08 and AC-11 from common web attacks. |
| AC-02 | CDN | Content Delivery Network: Fast transfer of statics assets and protects against common malicious attacks AC-01 |
| AC-03 | Front-end Distribution | Static website resources fronted by AC-02, not directly accessible. |
| AC-04 | Front-end Access Logs | Web Application Logs. Records access to frontend distribution resources. |
| AC-05 | Cognito | AWS Cognito: Integrates with AC-06, applies access control and user pools |
| AC-06 | IDP | IDP: Integrates with AC-05 and AC-07, provides university standard Single Sign-On capabilities |
| AC-07 | API Gateway | API Gateway: Integrates with AC-07, reviews authorisation token to allow checklist access to approved users |
| AC-08 | Checklist API | Checklist API: Integrates with AC-09, AC-11, AC-12, retrieves researcher details, ORCID ID, and registered project/application details from PURE (AC-09, AC-11). Saves checklist responses (AC-12) |
| AC-09 | Pure API Secrets | AWS SSM: Pure API Secrets are stored encrypted and are restricted by AWS IAM access control policies |
| AC-10 | API Access Logs | AWS Cloudwatch; Records access to Checklist API endpoints |
| AC-11 | Pure API | PURE Rest APIs: Restricted endpoint access. Access keys and secrets stored in SSM (AC-09) |
| AC-12 | Checklist Storage | AWS Dynamodb: Storage engine for checklist responses |
Table 2
Summary of various approaches to Research Data Management (RDM) across 20 Australian Universities.
| AUS.RANK | GLOBALRANK | UNIVERSITY | DATA MANAGEMENT POLICY | DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN | GUIDANCE/TRAINING | TOOL(Y/N) | CHECKLIST(Y/N) | WHO MANAGES DM POLICY & DMP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HAS A DATA MANAGMENT POLICY (Y/N) | CURRENT | YEAR | REQUIRESRDMP(Y/N) | WEBSITE | ||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Australian National University (ANU) | No | Refers to its Code of Research Conduct | Yes | Sep–20 | Yes | Yes | DMPTool | No | Library | |
| 2 | 38 | University of Melbourne | Yes | https://policy.unimelb.edu.au/MPF1242 | No | Nov–13 | Yes | Yes | yes | no | Library | |
| 3 | 42 | University of Sydney | Yes | https://www.sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2013/337&RendNum=0 | No | 2014 | Yes | Univeristy of Sydney Research Dashboard (DashR) | yes | yes | no | Library |
| 4 | 43 | University of New South Wales (UNSW) | Yes | https://research.unsw.edu.au/research-data-management-unsw | Yes | 2022 (requires login?) | Yes | ResToolkit | yes | yes | no | Library |
| 5 | 47 | University of Queensland (UQ) | Yes | https://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/4.20.06-research-data-management | No | 2016/Updates Mar–21 | Yes | Research Data Manager | Yes | yes | no | Library |
| 6 | 58 | Monash University | Yes | https://publicpolicydms.monash.edu/Monash/documents/1935815 | No | Effective date 112–17, review date 2–12–20 | No | – | Yes | No | Yes | Library research infrastructure manager/librarian |
| 7 | 86 | University of Western Australia (UWA) | No | Part of Research Integrity Policy | Yes | 10–May–21 | Yes | Part of the Toolkit | Yes | Yes | No | Policy Office |
| 8 | 106 | University of Adelaide | Yes | https://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/4043/?dsn=policy.document;field=data;id=7345;m=view | Yes | 4–Aug–21 | Yes | Research Data Planner | Yes | Yes | No | Library |
| 9 | 140 | University of Technology Sydney (UTS) | No | Part of Reearch Data Management Procedures & Research Policy | Yes | 16–Feb–21 | Yes | UTS | No | Yes | No | Library |
| 10 | 207 | University of Newcastle, Australia (UON) | No | Part of the Research Data & Primary Materials Management Procedure | No | 25-Mar-2021 | Yes | Data Management Dashboard | Yes | Yes | No | Library in partnership with Research office and IT |
| 11 | 212 | University of Wollongong | Yes | https://documents.uow.edu.au/about/policy/uow116802.html | No | Feb–19 | Yes | RedBox | Yes | No | No | Research Service Office |
| 12 | 224 | Queensland University of Technology (QUT) | Yes | http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/D/D_02_08.jsp | Yes | 21–Sep–20 | Yes | QUT Data Management Plan | Yes | Yes | No | Research and innovation division, research services office |
| 13 | 230 | Curtin University | Yes | https://s30991.pcdn.co/about/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/Research_Data_and_Primary_Materials_Policy.pdf | Yes | Dec–21 | Yes | https://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/c.php?g=202401&p=1333108 | Yes | Yes | no | Library |
| 14 | 237 | Macquarie University | Yes | https://policies.ma.edu.au/document/view.php?id=300 | Yes | 7–Sep–21 | Yes | Online Portal | Yes | No | No | Ditutally Enabled Research |
| 15 | 238 | RMIT University | No | Refers its Research Policy & Research Data Management Procedure | Yes | 1–Jun–21 | Yes | Word doc templates for staff and student | No | No | No | Library |
| 16 | 271 | Deakin University | No | Research Data Management Procedure | No | Review Date 2– Mar–22 | Yes | yes | Yes | Yes | Deakin Research Development/Library | |
| 17 | 274 | University of South Australia | https://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/university-policies/research/res-17/ | Yes | MyDMP | Yes | Library | |||||
| 18 | 291 | University of Tasmania | Yes | https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/782118/IMAS-Data-Management-Policy-2015.pdf | Yes | Research Data Portal | Yes | No | Yes | Library | ||
| 19 | 320 | Griffith University | No | Resource Sheet | Yes | Oct–19 | Yes | Template document | Yes | Yes | No | Policy Office |
| 20 | 377 | James Cook University (JCU) | No | Management of Data and Information in Research Procedure | – | – | Yes | Research Data JCU Platform | Yes | No | No | Library |
Table 3
Key findings data storage of the review for each faculty.
| FACULTY | FINDINGS |
|---|---|
| Engineering | What? Architectural and building models; Machinery; Robots; Design products; Biomaterial samples; Rock samples; Laboratory books. Where? Stored at numerous facilities, depending on the nature of research activities (multiple sites). How? Storage requirements are determined by the research supervisor, who consults the faculty Laboratory and Technical Services Manager or Facilities Management for guidance. |
| Health | What? Human tissue; Animal tissue; Cell lines; Consent forms; Survey forms; Medical devices; Laboratory books. Where? Stored at multiple sites and other QUT facilities, depending on the nature of research. Some lab books and paperwork stored in storerooms and offices. How? Storage requirements are determined by the research supervisor, who consults the faculty Laboratory and Technical Services Manager, or Facilities Management for guidance. |
| Science | What? Human tissue; Animal tissue; Biomaterial samples; Chemicals; Soil and rock samples; Laboratory books. Where? Stored on site in laboratories or at specialist facilities. How? Storage requirements are determined by the research supervisor, who consults the faculty Laboratory and Technical Services Manager, the faculty Physical Spaces Representative, or Facilities Management for guidance. |
| Business and Law | What? Consent forms; Survey forms; Hardcopy documents; Hardcopy images. Where? Stored in locked cabinets, offices and storerooms on site and off site. How? Storage requirements are determined by the Research Supervisor, who consults the faculty Laboratory and Technical Services manager or Facilities Management for guidance. |
| Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice | What? Consent forms; Survey forms; Hardcopy documents; Hardcopy images; Industrial Design outputs; Creative artefacts. Where? Stored in locked cabinets, offices and storerooms on site and off site. How? Storage requirements are determined by the research supervisor, who consults the faculty Laboratory and Technical Services Manager or Facilities Management for guidance. |
Figure 3
Creating a new RDM+PM Checklist.
Table 4
Key functional features in the Checklist tool.
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Web-based | Available to any web accessible device |
| Device dynamic | Display dynamically reacts to type of device used for readability |
| Tiered Access | User groups are assigned appropriate roles, and read/write access levels are customised to appropriate groups |
| SSO integration | Integration with institution Single Sign-On capabilities |
| User Groups | Multiple types of User are defined in groups, with appropriate access/feature set applied |
| Customised Branding | System is able to be branded to institution specifics |
| Metadata capture | All checklists produce relevant metadata per project, as defined by the institution |
| Customised Questions | All questions are customisable to institution preferences |
| Customised Links | All informational direction links are customisable to institution preferences |
| Email trigger | Directional link can trigger email to appropriate group if required |
| Accessibility Standards | Platform meets Australian Accessibility standards |
| Active Directory connection | System connects to institution active directory for pre-fill fields |
| API integration | System is able to use API to connect to other institution systems, e.g. PURE |
| Predefined list | System is able to offer predefined answers for fields (as opposed to open text) |
| Prefill | System can prefill metadata based on other API integrations (e.g. SSO, PURE) |
| Form widgets | Platform offers web-form widgets for customisation of questions, e.g. calendar, short field, check box, radio button etc. |
| Create | User is able to create a new checklist |
| Save | User is able to save a checklist |
| Revert | User is able to revert answers to previous save |
| Edit | User is able to edit an existing checklist |
| Print to PDF | User is able to print checklist as PDF |
| Delete | User is able to delete existing checklist |
| Supervisor linkage | User is able to link checklist to their supervisor |
| Collaborator Linkage | User is able to link checklist to collaborator |
| Search – User | Admins are able to search all users and checklists in system |
| Monitoring | System creates monitoring logs for performance maintenance |
| Login/Logout | User is able to securely login and out of system |
| Search – Filter | User is able to use filter search to narrow view of existing checklists |
| Import | System can import data from other systems (e.g. PURE) |
| Conditional Rendering | Questions are dynamically displayed based on field input of user |
| Realtime analytics | Admin are able to view real-time analytics of checklist data and usage |
| Data export for analytics | Admin are able to export all data from platform for detailed analytics |
| Supervisor management view | Supervisors can view all checklists they have been linked to |
| Collaborator management view | Collaborators can view all checklists they have been linked to |
Table 5
Table showing the responses from new HDR students.
| ‘I like the simple look and feel of the checklist.’ | ‘This will help guide researchers to ask the right questions at the start of their projects.’ |
| ‘An easier-to-use tool like this will make researchers want to use it.’ | ‘This will make it easier for me to track what my HDR’s haven’t completed.’ |
| ‘It will make the data management planning process more understandable for researchers.’ | ‘This will make planning the data and primary materials management on my projects easier.’ |
| ‘I like the simplified approach, providing guidance but allowing researchers to decide what the DMP for their project will look like.’ | ‘This is a great start to improving research data and primary material management at QUT.’ |
| ‘I would like to be involved in future developments and testing of this tool.’ | ‘This will be a great improvement on the Data Management Planning tool.’ |
| ‘Clean, smooth and easy to use, can’t wait for the launch.’ |
Table 6
Table showing the responses from new HDR students.
| QUESTION | YES | NO | UNANSWERED | TOTAL STUDENT | PERCENTAGE ANSWERED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do you understand your obligations as per QUT MOPP D/2.8 on the Management of research data and primary materials? | 129 | 6 | 7 | 142 | 95% |
| Does your research involve humans? As defined by the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). | 87 | 52 | 3 | 142 | 98% |
| Does your research involve animals? As defined by the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes. | 3 | 136 | 3 | 142 | 98% |
| Are you creating, collecting or receiving digital data? | 127 | 11 | 4 | 142 | 97% |
| Are you creating, collecting or receiving physical materials? | 34 | 105 | 3 | 142 | 98% |
| Will the data be available for secondary usage (publishing)? | 101 | 37 | 4 | 142 | 98% |
| Are there any limitations with regards to sharing your research data? These could include: trade controls, contractual requirements, copyright, or intellectual property issues | 42 | 95 | 5 | 142 | 96% |
Figure 4
Stacked bar chart of the data captured in the Checklist for HDR students.