Data Management Plan in RSpace: 'One tool less' to simplify research workflow

The effective management of research data begins with creating a data management plan (DMP) for each research project which describes how the research data is handled throughout the research life cycle. However, the importance of proper handling of research data is not realized among researchers as research data management (RDM) is not embedded in their everyday practice. Researchers often get overwhelmed by any additional tools or infrastructure introduced to their research workflows. Therefore, to streamline the research process, we propose a “one less tool” strategy, integrating DMP template into our electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) “RSpace” which helps researchers use existing institutional services and infrastructure instead of adopting an additional platform for creating DMP. This strategy ensures that researchers can focus more on their work while maintaining efficiency in data management. Currently, we are in a trail phase to evaluate the effectiveness of this integration. We assume that researchers are more likely to create their DMPs when the process is integrated in their ELN, reducing the need for an extra effort.