Data management FAQs

This document gives general information about the data management required to be completed by NERC grant holders, as per NERC data policy.

What is NERC's policy for data management?

When you are awarded NERC funding, the terms and conditions state that you must follow the NERC Data Policy. NERC requires that all environmental data of long-term value generated through NERC-funded activities must be submitted to NERC for long-term management and dissemination. The NERC EDS, and its associated Data Centres, are how NERC manages its long-term data. You must actively engage with the NERC EDS throughout your project lifetime. 

How will a NERC Data Centre support me if I’m in receipt of a NERC Grant?

NERC Data Centres will help you complete and agree a full Data Management Plan (DMP), which is a requirement of receiving NERC funding. The DMP captures additional detail to that outlined in the Case for Support.

The NERC Data Centre allocated to support your grant will work closely with the project from an early stage, including identification of data of long-term value generated as part of the project. This is done in discussion with the researchers and referring to NERC guidance.

Generally, for long-term management, non-proprietary formats are best e.g. CSV rather than MS Excel. The NERC Data Centre and the grant Data Manager will agree in advance the format each data resource will need to be in when it is deposited with the agreed repository. Note this does not dictate what format researchers use for the data during the grant.

How will my data be made available?

NERC Data Centres recognise both the requirements to make data as open and as free possible for use by the wider community but also the need to protect data providers' IPR and right to first use of data provided. NERC Data Centres make data resources they hold publicly accessible via their Data Catalogues. Although there are no restrictions on who can download data, users must first register, then agree to Terms & Conditions of use to do so. Users are then provided with a URL from which that specific dataset can be accessed. All records from NERC Data Centre data catalogues will also be harvested by and made available on https://data.gov.uk

NERC Data Policy promotes 'first use' by the originators and makes allowances for datasets deposited with a NERC Data Centre to be embargoed for up to 2 years from the point of completion to allow for project participants to work exclusively on, and publish the results of, the data they have generated.

How long will my data be available for?

Datasets deposited in a NERC Data Centre are considered to be of long-term value, and as such have a minimum retention period of ten years after completion of the research. After this, data may be periodically reviewed and potentially discarded. However, data which has been given a DOI will be kept in perpetuity.

What does data management involve?

Data management is the care and maintenance of the data that is produced during the course of a research cycle. It is an integral part of the research process and helps to ensure that your data is properly organized, described, preserved, and shared. It is also referred to as ‘the compilation of many small practices that make your data easier to find, easier to understand, less likely to be lost, and more likely to be usable during a project or ten years later.

Digital preservation is an integral part of RDM activities from early on in the data lifecycle. Preservation planning in the pre-ingest and ingest stages increases efficiency, reduces costs in migrating or rescuing data and minimises reputational risk due to data becoming inaccessible.

Who is responsible for completing and maintaining the DMP?

The responsibility for data management of the grant lies with the Principal Investigator (PI). 

Can the PI delegate data management responsibilities to someone else in my research team?

The PI can delegate the day-to-day management of data management to another member/other members of the research team. However, the ultimate responsibility for data management throughout the lifetime of the grant project will be retained by the PI.

How many DMPs does our grant consortium need to complete?

It depends on what works best for your consortium. You may decide to collate all data sets into one DMP led by the parent grant, or you may prefer to ask each child grant to manage their data separately. As long as this is agreed with the data centre and documented, both options are acceptable.

What if I don’t yet have all the answers for the template?

The DMP is a living document so you may add information as it becomes available, and update details if they change during your project. It is best to make the DMP a standing item on your programme/project management meetings so you can ensure it is maintained on a regular basis, and that you remember to inform your data centre of any changes they should be aware of. This in turn helps your Data Centre to provide you with all the support you need.

What data resources do I need to plan to deposit?

To establish what data resources NERC expects you to deposit you need to document all your data& resources, including models, on the DMP and have a discussion about them with your data centre. Please note that making data available as supplementary material with the paper is not sufficient in terms of complying with the data policy – you are still expected to offer a copy of data underpinning your research to a NERC Data centre.

What licence will my data be made available under?

Generally, the data produced by NERC-funded research will be released under the Open Government Licence, as per NERC data policy. Data from other sources may use another licence, but we strongly encourage open licences such as creative commons licence.

Can I restrict access to my data held at a NERC Data Centre?

In general, all data made available by the NERC Data Centres can be accessed by anyone for any purpose, typically under the Open Government Licence, although some resources may be made available under more restrictive terms where there is a valid reason to do so - any such restrictions will be made clear when the data are requested. Embargoes can be provided for periods of up to 2 years from point of data collection, but all data resources will ultimately be made publicly available.

When do I need to deposit my data?

The timescale for submission of data sets should be agreed in advance with the data centre at the outset of the project and documented in the DMP. In general, data centres should receive the finalised data as soon after the end of data collection as is possible. The end of data collection is defined as the point at which the data become available from an instrument or experiment. It does not mean the end of the NERC-funded project.

What happens if I don’t comply with NERC data policy?

The requirements for data management activities described in the NERC Data Policyand detailed in associated Data Policy Guidance Notes form part of the terms and conditions applying to NERC award holders and their research institutions. Those who do not meet the data management requirements described within points 11-13 of the policy face being sanctioned by NERC and risk having award payments withheld or becoming ineligible for future funding.

Who do I agree a DMP with/deposit my data with if my grant is co-funded with another research council?

If your grant is only partly NERC-funded, you still need to communicate with the NERC Environmental Data Service to discuss your research and the data which you expect to generate. You will be required to complete a data management plan documenting any new data, and then use the DMP to agree where your data is best deposited

What content is required for a Data Management Plan?

A DMP is a formal document that describes how data will be handled for the duration of a research project and if deemed of long-term value, preserved for the future. It describes responsibilities for data, data security and access, metadata requirements, and detailed information on the expected datasets. Most funders require DMPs to be in place at the start of a project and to be kept up to date throughout. For some funders, a DMP is required at the grant proposal stage. NERC requires a brief outline DMP when submitting a grant proposal, which if the application is successful forms the basis of a full DMP.

Why do we need to manage science information properly?

Science information underpins and is usually a major output of your science project and collection of it requires a large amount of effort on your part. If you manage it properly, it will reduce the risk of errors creeping in, it makes it easier to find things, it is easier to prove that you have followed robust methods (for auditing purposes) and allows you to fully exploit it both during the project and afterwards.

Ultimately your research will be based on and judged by the data you create, use or acquire.

What should I consider when creating a Data Management Plan?

Data planning involves making decisions at the outset of your research to decide:

• What data will you need to answer the research question?
• What skills and resources will be needed to effectively create and work with the data?
• How to organise, store and manage data so that they meet the analysis requirements?
• Who has access to the data during and after the project?
• How will you ensure the security, integrity & quality of the data throughout your research?
• How will you create an audit trail from the original data through to the published results?
• What are the funders’ requirements, the science journal requirements and legal requirements affecting the data you will produce and manage?

Are NERC data centres subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation?

NERC is a Public Authority and as such subject to FOI legislation. The environmental data held by NERC’s data centres is also classed as ‘Environmental Information’ under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs), and there is a presumption that these data will be available to all who request them unless there is a clear reason, supported by the EIR exceptions as to why they should be withheld (e.g. the release of data might lead to damage to the environment). The EIRs do not require that all environmental data have to be made available in all cases. However, there is a presumption that it is in the public interest to release data unless there is a good reason otherwise. This means that a NERC-funded researcher cannot arbitrarily decide who can and cannot have copies of the data they have collected. Please talk to the data centres if you have questions about data access.