Research Data Management: RDM Glossary

CARE:
"Set of principles for Indigenous data governance [created by the Global Indigenous Data Alliance]. CARE stands for Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility and Ethics. These principles complement the existing FAIR principles"

Source: CODATA Research Data Management Terminology

CIHR:
Acronym for "Canadian Institutes of Health Research". One of the three government funded research agencies in Canada, also known as the Tri-Agency.

Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Codebook:
"A document that describes a dataset, including details about its contents and design"

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Data:
"Data are facts, measurements, recordings, records, or observations collected by researchers and others, with a minimum of contextual interpretation. Data may be in any format or medium taking the form of text, numbers, symbols, images, films, video, sound recordings, pictorial reproductions, drawings, designs or other graphical representations, procedural manuals, forms, diagrams, workflows, equipment descriptions, data files, data processing algorithms, software, programming languages, code, or statistical records"

Source: Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy - Frequently Asked Questions

Data Cleaning:
"The process of employing six core activities: discovering, structuring, cleaning, enriching, validating, and publishing data."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Data Deposit:
“Data deposit” refers to when the research data collected as part of a research project are transferred to a research data repository. The repository should have easily accessible policies describing deposit and user licenses, access control, preservation procedures, storage and backup practices, and sustainability and succession plans. The deposit of research data into appropriate repositories supports ongoing data-retention and, where appropriate, access to the data."

Source: Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy - Frequently Asked Questions

Data Dictionary:
"A machine-readable and often machine-actionable document, similar to a codebook, that generally contains detailed information about the technical structure of a dataset in addition to its contents."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Data Management Plan:
"A formal description of what a researcher plans to do with their data from collection to eventual disposal or deletion."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Data Stewardship:
"The process of Data Stewardship involves ensuring effective control and use of data assets and can include creating and managing metadata, applying standards, managing data quality and integrity, and additional data governance activities related to data curation. It also may include creating educational materials, policies, and guidelines around data at an institution."

Source: National Library of Medicine's Data Glossary

De-identification:
"The process of removing from a dataset any information that might put research subjects’ privacy at risk."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Digital Humanities:
"An academic field concerned with the application of computational tools and methods to traditional humanities disciplines such as literature, history, and philosophy."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Documented Data:
"Data that are delivered with all associated metadata, data dictionary, description of methods and instruments used to collect and process the data, and other supporting data (such as duplicate sample results, replicate analyses, percent recovery, etc.) with the purpose of providing the full context in which the data were created."

Source: CODATA Research Data Management Terminology

DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
"Type of digital Persistent Identifier (PID) issued by the International DOI Foundation. This permanent digital identifier is associated with an object that permits the object to be referenced reliably even if its location and metadata undergo change over time."

Source: CODATA Research Data Management Terminology

FAIR:
"Set of foundational principles [...] that all research objects should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) both for machines and for people"

Source: CODATA Research Data Management Terminology

Indigenous Data Sovereignty:
"The right of Indigenous Peoples to collect, access, analyze, interpret, manage, distribute, and reuse all data that was derived from or relates to their communities."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Interoperability:
"The ability of data or tools from non-cooperating resources to work with or communicate with each other with minimal effort using a common language."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Metadata:
"Data about data; data that define and describe the characteristics of other data."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

NSERC:
Acronym for "Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council". One of the three government funded research agencies in Canada, also known as the Tri-Agency.

Source: National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

OCAP:
"An acronym for ownership, control, access, and possession. These four principles govern how First Nations data and information should be collected, protected, used, and shared. OCAP® was created because Western laws do not recognize the community rights of Indigenous Peoples to control their information."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Open Access:
"The free, immediate, online availability of information coupled with the rights to use this information fully in the digital environment."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Open Data:
"Online, free of cost, accessible data that can be used, reused, and distributed provided that the data source is attributed."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID):
"Unique identifier for members of the research community, defined by a permanent numeric code with two main functions: to link the person to their research activities, including their publications, and to distinguish them from others."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Persistent Identifier:
"Long-lasting digital reference to an object that gives information about that object regardless of what happens to that object. Developed to address link rot, a persistent identifier can be resolved to provide an appropriate representation of an object whether that object changes its online location or goes offline."

Source: CODATA Research Data Management Terminology

README file:
"A plain text file that includes detailed information about datasets or code files. These files help users understand what is required to use and interpret the files, which means they are unique to each individual project."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Replicable Research:
"Replicable research is research which can be repeated by other researchers on new or different data, getting the same or similar results as the original researchers."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Reproducible Research:
"Reproducible research is research that can be repeated by researchers who were not part of the original research team using the original data and getting the same results."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Research Data:
"Sources of information or evidence that have been compiled to serve as input to research."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Research Data Management:
"A term that describes all the activities that researchers perform to structure, organize, and maintain research data before, during, and after the research process."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Sensitive Data:
Sensitive data is information that must be safeguarded against unwarranted access or disclosure. Sensitive data includes any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, organization or entity.

Source: UW RDM Confidentiality and Privacy

SSHRC:
Acronym for "Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council". One of the three government funded research agencies in Canada, also known as the Tri-Agency.

Source: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Traceable Research:
"Traceable research is research where external researchers can understand and repeat every change made to the raw data to get it into final shape for analysis."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners

Versioning:
"Also known as version control, this means keeping track of the changes that are made to a file, no matter how small. This is usually done using an automated Version Control System, such as GitHub. Many file storage services, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive, keep historic versions of a file every time it is saved. These versions can be accessed by browsing the file's history."

Source: Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners