Datamanagement
Data management refers to creating, saving, updating, making available, archiving and long-term storage of research data. The final goal of this process is often defined in terms of the FAIR principles: 'Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable'.
This involves thinking carefully, before you start collecting or creating data, to make sure that your data is findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. Not only for others, but also for your own future use.
For more information on data management, see the University Library website.
The Leiden Law School Research Data Management Protocol provides clear guidelines about data management for researchers at Leiden Law School. Data management includes all activities related to collecting, organizing, securely storing, using, and archiving data. Responsible management of research data is an important part of doing good research.
The Research Data Management Protocol applies to all Leiden Law School employees and all persons affiliated with the Law School, including external PhD candidates and contract PhD candidates, as well as any other guests or partners who carry out research under the auspices of the University.
Data Management Plan (DMP)
All PhD candidates and most researchers are required to write a data management plan (DMP) before starting a data collection (see section 1.4 of the Research Data Management Protocol).
In the DMP, researchers outline their practices for collecting/creating, organising, protecting, storing, documenting, and, where possible, sharing data. Planning and thinking ahead increases the quality datasets and their documentation, and helps mitigate risks such as data loss.
Here you can find an annotated DMP for researchers at Leiden Law School which includes advice for filling out different sections the DMP.
If you have questions about data management or need help filling our your DMP, please contact the faculty data steward.
Personal data
Researchers who collect personal data (see section 1.11 of the Research Data Management Protocol) may need to create a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Contact the privacy officer for help writing the DPIA. The DPIA and DMP will be submitted along with other documents to the ethics and data committee.
Data management for PhD candidates
PhD candidates, PhD fellows, and contract PhDs of Leiden Law School are required follow the training research data management (law). (Non-funded) external PhD candidates are welcome to join the training or attend the how to write a data management plan training offered by the library (some sessions are offered online).
All PhD candidates are required to draft a DMP at the beginning of the PhD trajectory. The DMP will be sent to the evaluation committee at the end of the first year for the “go-no-go meeting” (see section 5), submitted along with other documents during the ethics review process (if applicable), and the final version will be submitted at the end of the PhD trajectory along with the dissertation.
Research support staff at Leiden Law School
- Data steward: for data management questions during all phases of the research
- Information manager: for questions about university infrastructure, tools and software
- Privacy officer for questions about privacy and data protection, DPIAs, and consent forms
- ICT contact person: to apply for ICT facilities for research
- Ethics and Data Committee: for ethics and data review of research proposals
- Grant advisor: for support finding, writing, and applying for research funding
- Graduate School of Legal Studies: for questions regarding procedures in PhD trajectories.
Information and training
The Centre for Digital Scholarship (CDS) at the University Library offers information and trainings on data management, open science, open access, research software and data engineering, and copyright and intellectual property.