Developing a policy for metrics at UCL

UCL has been developing a set of principles on the responsible use of bibliometrics and other ways to measure research. This builds on UCL’s signing of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment in 2015; responsible evaluation practices in the 2017 UCL Academic Careers Framework; and UCL’s commitment to Open Science.

This Town Hall meeting and panel discussion aims to get feedback on the proposed principles, which we are planning to develop into a formal policy in the coming year, and to discuss the issues surrounding the use of quantitative research metrics.

The meeting will be followed by a public survey on the use of metrics and the proposed principles, to gather additional feedback from those unable to attend.

Registration for the event (via Eventbrite)

Schedule

– Introduction – Professor David Price, Vice-Provost (Research)

– Responsible metrics in practice – Dr. Elizabeth Gadd, Loughborough University

– Overview of the new principles – Dr. Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost (UCL Libraries)

– Panel discussion and public questions

Research Data Management (RDM) is an increasingly important skill for researchers across all disciplines and career stages.

Research funders are increasingly introducing new requirements around Data Management as part of the application process. Often researchers will be asked to produce a Data Management Plan as part of a funding application or be required to share data at the end of a project.

This workshop will provide a practical overview of the major issues in RDM including how to meet funder requirements, how to effectively store data during your project, and making decisions about whether to share research data. As part of the workshop participants will begin to develop a datamanagement plan.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• identify the main considerations in RDM for their project
• understand how to comply with funder policies
• make more informed decisions about effective data sharing
• produce an effective Data Management Plan

This session will take place on the 2nd of May, 14:00-16:00. Further details and booking available through Organisational Development

Data Management Plans have become a requirement for a growing number of research funders. Knowing what to include in a plan can be a challenge for researchers. DMPOnline is a tool which helps researchers develop Data Management Plans by providing templates alongside guidance for each section of the plan. DMPOnline allows you to share your plan with collaborators, export to a variety of different formats and follow templates for the major funders.

Recently the Research Data Management team in UCL Library Services has developed a customised version of DMPOnline. This customised guidance aims to provide UCL researchers with information on local support, infrastructure and services available at UCL.

You can begin using the UCL customised version of DMPOnline by signing in or creating a new account on DMPOnline and choosing UCL as your organisation.  DMPOnline is easy to use but we have also developed additional instructions. We are still in the process of developing the guidance on DMPOnline, if you have any comments please email lib-researchsupport@ucl.ac.uk.

If you would like further support on developing a plan or would like us to review a draft of the plan please send us an email: lib-researchsupport@ucl.ac.uk. Please try and allow at least two weeks before submission of an application for us to review draft plans.

All Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK grant holders like grant applicants should be aware of the charities’ research data policies. To clarify their requirements, our colleagues at the University of Cambridge have asked them questions related to data management and data sharing.

Their answers are summarised in two useful blog posts:

• a presentation of the charities’ expectations on data sharing;
• answers to questions asked by researchers on access to data, quality control, conditions and costs of sharing, metadata standards and policy implementation.

The new European project LEARN will raise awareness of Research Data Management and policy issues to institutions. It will do this by maximizing the visibility of the existing LERU Roadmap for Research Data, written by LERU, the League of European Research Universities. The LERU Roadmap is a guide for universities and research organizations on how to tackle the challenges which research data poses.

Researchers, research funders, research organisations and senior decision makers are cordially invited to the workshop ‘Embedding Research Data as part of the research cycle’ which will be held on the 29th January (9am-5pm) at Senate House in London. Register now.

For more Information on LEARN please visit the project website .

Two official documents are here to help UCL researchers and students understand their responsibilities regarding the preservation (or “archiving”) of the data that they produce. Check the definition of research data if you are not sure what is meant by it.

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The UCL Research Data Policy sets out UCL’s expectations around the management and sharing of data created by UCL researchers. All UCL researchers, supervisors and Principal Investigators should read the Policy and share it with colleagues and students where relevant.

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