Research Data Management

Canada’s major funding agencies the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have released the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy. The policy is not an open data policy, rather the policy supports Canadian research excellence by promoting research data management and data stewardship practices. There are three key components:

• Development of an Institutional Strategy to be publicly available online
• Researchers will need to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) with their grant proposals
• Grant recipients are to deposit data (including metadata and code) that supports research conclusions in publications into a digital repository

Throughout these three components, consideration of Indigenous data sovereignty will need to be considered and addressed.

Canada's major granting agencies The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have issued the Tri-Agency Statement on Principles of Digital Data Management. This statement outlines the agencies' expectations with respect to:

• data management planning
• constraints and obligations
• adherence to standards
• collection and storage
• metadata
• preservation, retention, and sharing
• timeliness
• acknowledgement and citation
• efficiency and cost effectiveness

The Statement goes on to outline the responsibilities of researchers, research communities, research institutions, and research funders. Responsibilities of researchers are described as including:

• incorporating data management best practices into their research;
• developing data management plans to guide the responsible collection, formatting, preservation and sharing of their data throughout the entire lifecycle of a research project and beyond;
• following the requirements of applicable institutional and/or funding agency policies and professional or disciplinary standards;
• acknowledging and citing datasets that contribute to their research; and
• staying abreast of standards and expectations of their disciplinary community

While the Statement does not include mandatory requirements, new policies under development by the Tri-Agencies are expected to result in compulsory research data management requirements in the near future.