Research Data Management (Health Sciences)

Time spent at the beginning of the project to define folder hierarchy and file naming conventions will make it much easier to keep things organized and findable, both throughout the project and after project completion. Adhering to well-thought out naming conventions:

• helps prevent accidental overwrites or deletion
• makes it easier to locate specific data files
• makes collaborating on the same files less confusing

File naming best practices

Include a few pieces of descriptive information in the filename, in a standard order, to make it clear what the file contains. For example, filenames could include

• experiment name or acronym
• researcher initials
• date data collected
• type of data
• conditions
• file version
• file extension for application-specific files

Consider sort order:

• If it is useful for files to stay in chronological order, a good convention is to start file names with YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD.
• If you are using a sequential numbering system, use leading zeros to maintain sort order, e.g. 007 will sort before 700.

Do not use special (i.e. non-alphanumeric) characters such as  "/ \ : * ? ‘ < > [ ] [ ] { }  ( ) & $ ~ ! @ #  % ^   , '  in names. These could be interpreted by programs or operating systems in unexpected ways.

Do not use spaces in file or folder names, as some operating systems will not recognize them and you will need to enclose them in quotation marks to reference them in scripts and programs. Alternatives to spaces in filenames:

• Underscores, e.g. file_name.xxx
• Dashes, e.g. file-name.xxx
• No separation, e.g. filename.xxx
• Camel case, where the first letter of each section of text is capitalized, e.g. FileName.xxx

Keep names short, no more than 25 characters.

The file formats you use have a direct impact on your ability to open those files at a later date, and on the ability of other people to access those data.

Whenever possible, select file formats that are

• non-proprietary*
• unencrypted
• uncompressed
• in common usage by the research community
• adherent to an open, documented standard
• interoperable among diverse platforms and applications
• royalty-free and without intellectual property restrictions
• developed and maintained by an established open standards organization

*If you must save files in a proprietary format, include a readme file in the same directory as the data file that documents the software and version used to generate the file, so that the files can be accessed in the future.

Best practices for handling original data:

• Retain your original, unedited raw data in its native format; do not alter or edit it.
• Document the tools, instruments, or software used to create the data.
• Make a copy the original data file prior to any analysis or data manipulations.

Storage refers to preserving your data files in a secure location you can access readily. This is not the same thing as backup (described below).

Storing your data properly ensures that it will be there when you need to use it for publications, theses, or grant proposals. A granting agency may require that you retain data for a given period and may ask you to explain in a data plan how you will store and backup your data.

Storage Best Practices:

• Unencrypted storage is the easiest to use and work with as it is the easiest to access. However if you are working with sensitive data you may be required to encrypt your files.
• Keep passwords and keys on paper (2 copies), and in a PGP (pretty good privacy) encrypted digital file
• Don’t rely on 3rd party encryption alone
• Uncompressed files are ideal for storage files you will be accessing frequently, however due to space concerns you may need to compress your files, or at least your backup files.