Research Data Management: RDM Basics & Best Practices

1. README Files for Data Deposits
   1. UWaterloo README Template
2. File Naming
3. File and Folder Organization
4. Learning Resources
   1. Introductory Resources
   2. Intermediate Resources
   3. Discipline-specific Resources
5. Resource Recommendation Form

What is a README?

A README file is a required component of a data deposit. It acts as a guide to your dataset by providing an overview of your data, including what your data is, how it was labelled, and how it was collected. Above all else, be consistent with your choices throughout the lifecycle of your research to ensure clear and readable documentation.

A README file is not a replacement for the metadata required by a data repository when you deposit your data; however, metadata terms can be recorded in your README.

Write your README with the UWaterloo template

This README template has been created for data deposits into the University of Waterloo Dataverse by the Library’s RDM team. It has been designed for multidisciplinary usage, meaning not all information fields will be applicable for every data deposit. For best practice, include all relevant information that can support the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of your data deposit.

The template can also be used for internal data management or for deposits in other repositories. 

README files should be saved as a plain text file (.txt) or a PDF (.pdf).

File naming conventions

Common file naming conventions are camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case, and kebab-case.  Templates from the University of Waterloo Library use a combination of PascalCase and snake_case. We encourage you to modify the templates for your own preferred naming convention, however do remain consistent with the style used for your project.

Best practices for file naming

• Date and time: For dates, use the Year-Month-Day format to ensure chronological order. For time, use the 24-hour clock in the Hour-Minute format. These standards follow ISO 8601. 

Example: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM or YYYY-YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD_hhmm

• Versioning: Assign version numbers to multiple iterations of your file using “v” followed by the number. 

Example: v10 (Version 10)

•  Leading zero: Include a leading zero for numbers 0-9

Example: v01 (Version 1) instead of v1

• Abbreviations: Use short, unique identifiers where possible in file names.

•  Ordering descriptive terms: Put descriptive terms about format and version at the end of file name. 

Example: LabReport_Draft01 instead of Draft01_LabReport, or essay-v12 instead of v12-essay

File Naming Convention Worksheet

Usually, project files and folders are organized in a hierarchical directory structure made up of a top-level folder (called a root directory), subfolders (called subdirectories), and related files.  

For the root directory of a typical research project, there are three subdirectories—data, analysis, and reports. Here is an example directory structure, formatted as a plain text tree diagram:

er/ ├── Data/ │ ├── ---README--- │ ├── File_01 │ └── File_02 ├── Analysis/ │ ├── File_01 │ └── File_02 └── Report/ ├── File01_v01 ├── File01_v02 └── File01_v03ProjectFolder/
├── Data/
│   ├── ---README---
│   ├── File_01
│   └── File_02
├── Analysis/
│   ├── File_01
│   └── File_02
└── Report/
    ├── File01_v01
    ├── File01_v02
    └── File01_v03

Introductory resources

Intermediate resources

Discipline-specific resources

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Arts and Social Science

Do you have a discipline-specific resource to recommend for this list? Send it to us through our recommendation form, we would love to hear from you!