During the active work phase, structured research data management is essential. Particularly important during the active work phase is the implementation of consistent file organisation and documentation.
A structured file organisation and documentation of research data ensures the findability of research data, its interpretation and its reproduction. It also creates more transparency and thus increases quality assurance.
The following points should be considered:
- Definition of a file naming convention
- Comprehensible, hierarchical structuring of folders
- Use of appropriate metadata to describe the research data
- Precise description of all processing and analysis steps starting from the raw data
- Versioning (especially concerning software)
- Name of models, codes or software used
- Handling of backups and versions of files
- Management of access rights to data