Research data management

There are several definitions of research data. The Slovenian Terminological Dictionary of Open Science defines research data as data obtained through various methods that serve to explore, test, or confirm hypotheses, and to derive and present findings.

The OECD defines research data as factual records (numerical scores, textual records, images and sounds) used as primary sources for scientific research, and that are commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings. A research data set constitutes a systematic, partial representation of the subject being investigated.

This term does not cover the following: laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, and drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, or personal communications with colleagues or physical objects (e.g. laboratory samples, strains of bacteria and test animals such as mice). Access to all of these products or outcomes of research is governed by different considerations than those dealt with here.

The goal of research data management in accordance with the principles of open science is to increase the usability of scientific findings by making data available through repositories to as wide an audience as possible. This also includes uses that go beyond the original purpose of the research in which they were generated.

Public access to research data enables the verifiability of scientific results and serves as a safeguard ensuring that the researchers who generated the data receive recognition for their work.

Research data management covers not only data generated by researchers as part of a research project, but also the reuse of existing data.

You can find more information regarding open science and good research data management at:

• Spoznaj FAIR: priročnik o odprti znanosti v Sloveniji
• Priročnik o načrtovanju ravnanja z raziskovalnimi podatki
• Online course Introduction to Managing Research Data According to the Principles of Open Science
• Videoposnetki projekta SPOZNAJ – Podpora pri uvajanju načel odprte znanosti v Sloveniji

The DMP is a document that you prepare in collaboration with your supervisor, in which you explain how you will collect, store, document, process, and publish research data, taking into account the methodology of your research.

To prepare the DMP, you may use the DMP template for UL doctoral students, or, in consultation with your supervisor and taking into account the specific characteristics of your scientific discipline or field, you may prepare a different kind of DMP.

If your research data will first be recorded on paper and only then digitized, specify in the DMP how you will manage the data before and after digitization.

Even if your research is entirely theoretical and no existing data will be used or new data created, you must prepare a DMP and explain therein why no research data will be generated.

The DMP is a living document that you update throughout your research:

• prepare the first version when submitting your doctoral dissertation proposal in your second year,
• prepare an updated version when presenting the results of your research,
• the final version is part of your doctoral dissertation.

The DMP will be reviewed during the evaluation processes for the doctoral dissertation proposal and the doctoral dissertation (supervisor, Dissertation Advisory Committee, Doctoral Studies Committee).

Please note that you may need approval from the relevant ethics committee if the nature of your proposed doctoral dissertation topic requires it. For more information, visit the UL's website on ethics and integrity in research.

Research data generated during your studies must be made openly accessible via a repository in a manner that adheres as closely as possible to the FAIR principles (Findable; Accessible; Interoperable; Reusable).

Publishing data in open access via a repository largely ensures compliance with the FAIR principles.

You can read more about the FAIR principles at:

• FAIR Aware 
• FAIR Principles 

We recommend that you follow the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies of data on 2 different storage media, 1 of which is stored at a different location) to prevent data loss.

Doctoral students can use their digital identity to store data on Microsoft cloud services provided by UL (SharePoint, OneDrive).

When using OneDrive, it is important to note that a student’s or young researcher’s university account is deactivated at the end of their studies or employment, which also deletes all of the files.

In some cases, it is therefore more advisable to use SharePoint, where it is possible to designate multiple site owners and thus ensure long-term access to data.

If a doctoral student is employed by UL, the data they generate is property of UL under the Act on Inventions Arising from Employment and the Copyright and Related Rights Act.

If they are not employed at UL, the issue of data ownership must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the research work performed, UL’s contribution to its creation, and the student’s employment status.

If you have questions regarding the ownership of generated research data, please contact the Knowledge Transfer Office of UL.

Research data should be made openly accessible via a repository to the greatest extent possible, in accordance with the principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” Since open access is not always possible, you may choose to restrict access to data or make it unavailable.

Justified exceptions to full open access to data are permitted under Article 50 of the Rules and Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UL in the following cases:

• personal data,
• sensitive data,
• protection of intellectual property (e.g. when filing a patent),
• non-disclosure of endangered areas, groups, or species.

Any planned restriction on data access must be adequately justified in the DMP.

If data are restricted or unavailable, you must nevertheless publish the metadata (information about the research, the types of data, the reason for their unavailability, and any information regarding access restrictions) about the research data that were generated or reused for the purposes of the doctoral dissertation in a repository.

You must publish your data in a repository, preferentially in a foreign or Slovenian discipline specific data repository, or in the Repository of UL. The choice of repository is up to you, in consultation with your supervisor.

 There are two discipline specific data repositories in Slovenia:

• Social Science Data Archives (ADP),
• CLARIN.SI for language resources and technologies.

You can look for suitable data repositories at re3data.org and FAIRsharing.org.

You can publish the data you generated during your doctoral research as a single set – resulting in a single data publication – or in parts alongside each scientific article. If you are working with different types of data, you can publish the data generated during your doctoral research in different repositories.

Repositories often have specific requirements for publishing data, e.g. regarding accompanying documentation describing the research methodology and appropriate file formats.

For some repositories, in addition to the data files, you must also prepare a README file containing key basic information about the data. You can prepare the README file in various ways; guidelines from Cornell University can serve as a reference.

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the requirements of your chosen repository well in advance, ideally before you begin your research. More information on data formats suitable for long-term preservation is available at:

• DANS File formats  
• UK Data Service Recommended formats

You can find a few practical tips for organizing data here.

The choice of language in which data are published in a repository depends on the research context (e.g. international collaboration) and the type of publication that will result from the research data (article in an international scientific journal, doctoral dissertation).

If you plan to store your data in the Repository of UL, please follow the instructions found here.

The decision regarding which data will be published in a repository (e.g. including raw/unprocessed data) is left to the doctoral student and the supervisor. You must justify this decision in the DMP.

In principle, data ensuring the reproducibility of the doctoral research and its conclusions should be published. Preliminary studies and preliminary testing may not have lasting value for science or enable the reproducibility of the doctoral research, but you and your supervisor should assess this on a case-by-case basis.

Another important consideration is whether the data has the potential to be reused for similar or other purposes. We recommend also depositing raw data in the repository if this is practically feasible; in any case, follow the practices within your field.

When publishing data, be mindful of what data you are permitted to publish. If you will be working with third-party proprietary data (e.g. data belonging to a company), we recommend that an agreement be concluded between the UL faculty/academy, you, and the other party prior to conducting the research, specifying data ownership and any restrictions on its sharing. If you will be using data that is already available, you do not need to republish it in a repository.

You must also take copyright into account when publishing the data – for example, if as part of your research you create 3D scans of works of art that you wish to publish in a repository as your research data, you must check the copyright status of the artworks before publishing your data or obtain permission from the copyright holder for such publication.

You must publish your data in a repository no later than the final submission of your doctoral dissertation, as you are required to state in your dissertation where and how the data are accessible. You do this by citing the data’s persistent identifier (PID), which is assigned by the repository.

Scientific journals typically require that the data underlying an article be made available at the same time the article is published. Therefore, you will need to publish at least a portion of the data generated during your doctoral research in the repository upon the publication of each article.

The UL has a network of data stewards and contact persons to assist with research data management, whom you can contact in case you have questions or need help. 
You can email them at raziskovalni.podatki@uni-lj.si.

Data stewards:

• Rectorate: Coordinator of data stewards Dr. Matej Petrič
• Biotechnical Faculty: Dr. Tina Zorman
• Faculty of Electrical Engineering: Dr. Urša Opara Krašovec
• Faculty of Arts: Dr. Ana Jenko Kovačič
• Faculty of Pharmacy: Tinka Leskovec
• Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering: Dr. Peter Kočman
• Faculty of Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Aleš Gosar
• Faculty of Medicine: Dr. Bojan Kverh
• Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering: Dr. Irena Sajovic
• Faculty of Education: Dr. Ksenija Rivo

Contacts:

• School of Economics and Business: Matic Bradač in Jure Brešar
• Faculty of Social Sciences: Tinka Leskovec
• Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology: Branko Škrinjar
• Faculty of Mathematics and Physics: Mojca Krmelj, MSc
• Faculty of Sport: Mira Metljak
• Faculty of Law: Polona Gorkič
• Veterinary Faculty: Dr. Metka Šimundić