EPFL reveals key trends and challenges in Research Data Management
CC BY-NC-SA EPFL Library
EPFL has released the results of its 2023 Research Data Management (RDM) survey, providing key insights into how researchers manage their data and code. Conducted by the EPFL Library RDM team, this biannual survey helps to identify evolving practices and needs to improve institutional support. Previous editions were conducted in 2017, 2019, 2021 and their results remain available for consultation.
For the first time, the 2023 edition was carried out in collaboration with DaSCH, Eawag, ETHZ, FHNW, and UNIL. By using a shared set of questions across institutions, the initiative aimed to develop a more harmonized understanding of RDM practices in Switzerland. The results focus on the responses from the EPFL research community. Other institutions’ reports are available here (DaSCH and ETHZ).
Key findings and trends
The survey highlights a shift towards institutional servers and cloud storage, with Git-based platforms becoming central to collaborative research. While open formats and open-source tools are widely used, researchers express uncertainty about best practices for open data and code.
More researchers are completing Data Management Plans (DMPs) compared to previous years, but knowledge gaps persist, particularly in FAIR principles, metadata standards, and data ownership. README files are commonly used for documentation, presenting an opportunity for standardization, while versioning practices remain mixed, with many still relying on manual methods.
Areas for improvement
The survey results point to several areas where further development could support researchers' needs. These include strengthening infrastructure for data storage and sharing, increasing awareness of best practices through training, and providing clearer guidance on documentation, versioning, and metadata standards. Ethical considerations, particularly in handling sensitive data, also remain an important aspect of research data management.
For more details on the survey findings and upcoming RDM initiatives, contact [email protected].
For more information about code and RDM services provided by EPFL Library, visit go.epfl.ch/rdm.
Full EPFL report is available here: https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/f9e51cc2-0419-4fef-a65b-0601b1e0b152
Full dataset is available here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13836947