DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14754189.v1
title: Researchers’ Perceptions on Research Data Management: A Survey

description: An Effective Research data management (RDM) practices associated with more benefits particularly in increasing research impact, enabling the data reuse, data preservation and archive for future use. To maintain research integrity, researcher hold the responsivity to practice the effective research data management with data which they have been generate while pursuing research activities, but researcher needs the supports from either libraries or universities to establish proper data management practices. Therefore authors of aimed to conduct an assessment to understand the researcher perceptions, current practices on research data management and their willingness to share data if libraries or universities offer the some support in managing and storing research data. The study undertaken the online survey method to collect the data and it includes 34 researchers’ perceptions on research data generation, various types and formats of research data generated, infrastructure for data storage and archive, practices of research data sharing, awareness on research data repositories etc. The results provided most of researcher generate the research data irrespective of various types & formats, but they are not more aware about proper research data management and sharing though researcher have been preserving research data using offline infrastructure like desktop, pen drives, hard disks, CD/DVDs etc. and most of researcher very much keen to avail under the library support in managing research data. The study helps a better understanding of the current practices and needs of researcher at Central University of Gujarat about research data management and sharing. From the study results author provides suggestions for improve the researcher awareness on research data management by conducting training, consulting, special lectures, seminars and workshops of research data management, sharing, and storage.A survey with simple online questionnaire method was used for this study to collecting the data regarding researchers’ perceptions on research data management in the Central University of Gujarat (CUG). The authors set out to the following questions in online questionnaire: <i>· Have you generated any research data while you are pursuing research activities?</i> <i>· Roughly what kind/ type of research data generated or created while you are pursuing research activities?</i> <i>· What format and volume of research data generated?</i> <i>· Where do you store your research data for future use?</i> <i>· Does the practice of research data sharing exist in your discipline/school/centre/ department?</i> <i>· How important is research data sharing and make available for free access?</i> <i>· Are you aware of any research data repositories? </i> <i>· </i><i>Do you have submitted your research data to any following research data repositories?</i> · <i> </i><i>Do you feel that the libraries should offer some support in managing, storing and archiving your research data for future use?</i> Mail communication channel was used to send online questionnaire to the researchers and there were three attempts to get the responses. The study involves the Thirty Four (34) researchers’ responses from various schools and department of Central University of Gujarat. Statistical tools were used to analyse & interpret the collected data from survey method. <br>