What are research data?

Research data represent all the data, that are collected, produced, developed, described and/or analysed with scholarly methods and that are sufficiently documented.^[1]

Common formats of research data are:

• audio and video recordings of interviews
• transcripts of text and audio recordings
• annotations and excerpts
• bibliographies
• text and speech corpora
• analysis of quantitative empirical social research and statistical surveys
• scripts and source code
• images of physical objects, graphics or diagrams
• network analysis and visualisations
• geodata

Data, i.e. information on properties of analytic units, become research data on the basis of scholarly methods and documentation. Documentation of research data is done via metadata.

Planned data management is an important feature in the daily life of researchers, since it supports their work in a range of ways:

• Systematic collecting, recording and storage of research data facilitates your own research and protects against data loss;
• The publication of research data increases the visibility of one’s own research and accentuates one’s academic profile;^[2]
• The traceability and transparency of research performance is increased;
• New collaborations and networks with other researchers can emerge;
• Expert knowledge is preserved and facilitates new research;
• Published research data can be used for secondary analysis with new research questions and methods or in combination of data from diverse sources;
• Current research funding requirements will be met and the prospects for funding will increase.