Data Management & Curation Services: Exploring Stakeholders Opinions (Fall 2012)

The purpose of the research study was to explore stakeholders’ opinions on select data management and curation services issues that currently affect all disciplines. A data management and curation services 10-questions survey questionnaire was developed and administered to select data management and curation promoters (funders), stakeholders (institutions), and users (evaluators) from November 5, 2012 to December 5, 2012. The survey was approved by the Florida State University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and assigned the HSC No. 2012.9198 on November 2, 2012. The survey was started by 64 participants, completed by 53, and garnered an 83% completion rate. The survey’s findings from the data management and curation key concepts category lead to the development of the data management and curation (DMC) framework. The preliminary study included questions on the four key concepts of data management, elements of a data management plan, theoretical frameworks/perspectives, and data seal of approval assessment guidelines. The survey participants included stakeholders representing funding agencies, institutions, users, publisher, and non-profit organizations within and outside of the USA. The findings served as a preliminary study for dissertation research on exploring the data management and curation (DMC) practices of scientists in research labs within a research university due to be published in 2014.