Skip to Main Content

Research Data Management: Organising and Storing Data

Help guide to assist NT Health staff undertaking research to understand the importance and process of managing data

Working with data

Data sharing 

A normal function of research will be the need to share data among other members of the research team. Consideration should be given to how this will occur safely and ethically. ANDS has developed a guide, 'Data sharing considerations for Human Research Ethics Committees'  that provides information regarding the safe management of sensitive data. This guide is designed to support institutional policies, so if you have additional queries, be sure to contact the NT Health Research Governance Office for more advice.

File naming and version control

Think of a directory as a hierarchical tree. Your directories (or folders) are usually saved within the local drive of your computer. This drive is commonly named (C:) drive, but may have another letter from the alphabet. Within your (C:) drive you will then save folders, subfolders and files.

A little thought at the start of your project in naming these files correctly will save you a lot of frustration later on when you have many different data files and various versions of each.

Lets take a look at some poorly named directories and files and then some better alternatives:

Poor Example Correctly Named 

/folder/

/MYRESEARCH/

/MelioidosisResearchProject/

/MelioidosisResearchProjec/DataFiles/

Research projectFinal.docx,

Research projectFinalFinal.docx,

Research projectFinalFinalFinal.docx

MelioidosisResearchProtocol_v1.docx (move to an archive folder)

MelioidosisResearchProtocol_v2.docx (move to an archive folder)

MelioidosisResearchProtocol_v3.docx

DSC23233.jpg,

iweunfdweialksdfwe.jpg

MelioidosisPatient_name or patient identifier number_23032021.jpg

MelioidosisPatient_RDH_23032021.jpg

See these additional information pages for more information on creating a structured directory and correctly naming the folders, subfolders and files within.

Storage

At the data collection stage of your research it is important to make sure you are saving and backing up the data in a format that will be accessible in the present and the future. You may have access to other options, but the following mediums are available as viable methods of data storage:

  • Local hard drives of computers or laptops
  • External hard drives
  • Network storage within an institution or workplace
  • Intranet sites
  • Cloud services (note: cloud services are not permissible for NT Health data)

It is highly recommended that when storing your data, additional copies are made in alternative locations. For example, the original copy saved on a computer drive is also backed up on an external hard drive or cloud service.

Backups should occur frequently, according to the data management plan.

Preserving data 

Preservation of data prevents all your hard work from being lost in the future, and is also a legal requirement. It requires thought into how others will be able to discover and re-use your findings in the long term, and whether they will be able to 'read' the information in the format in which it has been saved. Preservation also adds a layer of transparency to the research, where the funding body or institution is accountable for the research outcomes and may need to present evidence of these outcomes.

When deciding what research data to retain consider the following points:

  • What is needed to validate findings or to be re-usable?
  • How long it would take to collect the data again or whether that would even be possible. 
  • How significant your data is in relation to the results and findings of the research. What value is it adding?
  • Legal requirements to retain the data
  • How useful your data may be to other researchers or even your future self - you may not know the answer to this question, which makes preservation even more important!

You will need to determine the best place to preserve your data upon completion of your research project. This is particularly important in ensuring that others can find your research. NT Health Library has a digital ePublications repository that collects the research outputs of projects conducted by NT Health. Contact the library if you would like to discuss whether your data can be added to the ePublications repository.  

note: You do not need to keep everything or all versions of your data.  You only need to retain the data that verifies your research findings.

See the links below for more information on choosing appropriate file formats;

Archiving data

You will need to clearly differentiate between an archived file and a backup file. They are very different!

A backup of your data file is your emergency copy, if something accidently happened to your original data, making it inaccessible. On the other hand, an archived file is one that is no longer a current version or has in some way become obsolete and no longer the source of truth. It's value lies in version history and where a research project was at in a certain date in time.

It is recommended that you store your archived versions and data files in a clearly defined archive folder that is separate from your working files.

If your research involves locating data files from external sources this page provides a list of possible locations where you can access existing data from registries and databases.  

ATSIDA – Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Data Archive A collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research data.
Australian Bureau of Statistics Australia’s national statistical agency and an official source of independent data on Australia, its economy and its people.
Australian Clinical Trials Search the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. 
Australian Data Archive  A national service for the collection and preservation of digital research data. 
Australian Institute Health and Wellness The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is an independent statutory agency providing authoritative and accessible health information and statistics.
Baker Institute open access repository View the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute's research outputs.
ClinicalTrials.gov Registry and results database hosted by the NIH as well as information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies from around the world.
CSIRO Data Access Portal  Research data, software and other digital assets published by CSIRO.
data.gov.au data.gov.au is a central source of Australian open government data.
NT Health digital library The research Collection of this repository showcases the research output from NT Health staff. 
Research Data Australia The Australia National Data Service (ANDS) allows you to find, access, and re-use data for research from over one hundred Australian research organisations, government agencies, and cultural institutions.
Directories for locating other repositories
Open Access Directory  the Open Access Directory is a compendium of lists about open access to science and scholarship, maintained by the open access community.
OpenDOAR - Directory of Open Access Repositories  OpenDOAR is the quality-assured, global Directory of Open Access Repositories where you can browse and search thousands of registered repositories.
re3data.org  the goal of re3data.og is to create a global registry of research data repositories from different academic disciplines and to promote a culture of sharing, increased access and better visibility of research data.

 

Tips - Version Control

Find best practice information in version control of files

The video above outlines the creation of a README file for the purpose of communicating important information about a research project and a method of assisting others in accessing data used in your research.