Abstract
Researchers have to ensure that their projects comply with Research Data Management (RDM) requirements. Consequently, the main funding agencies require Data Management Plans (DMPs) for grant applications. So, institutions are investing in RDM tools and implementing RDM workflows in order to support their researchers. In this context, we propose a collaborative DMP-building method that involves researchers, data stewards and other parties if required. This method was applied as part of an RDM workflow in research groups across several scientific domains. We describe it as a systematic approach and illustrate it through a set of case studies. We also address the DMP monitoring process during the life cycle of projects. The feedback from the researchers highlighted the advantages of creating DMPs and their growing need. So, there is motivation to improve the DMP support process according to the machine-actionable DMPs concept and to the best practices in each scientific community. © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Abstract
Researchers are being prompted by funders and institutions to expose the variety of results of their projects and to submit a Data Management Plan as part of their funding requests. In this context, institutions are looking for solutions to provide support to research data management activities in general, including DMP creation. We propose a collaborative approach where a researcher and a data steward create a DMP, involving other parties as required. We describe this collaborative method and its implementation, by means of a set of case studies that show the importance of the data steward in the institution. Feedback from researchers shows that the DMP are simple enough to lead people to engage in data management, but present enough challenges to constitute an entry point to the next level, the machine-actionable DMP. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract

Abstract
Research datasets include all kinds of objects, from web pages to sensor data, and originate in every domain. Concerns with data generated in large projects and well-funded research areas are centered on their exploration and analysis. For data in the long tail, the main issues are still how to get data visible, satisfactorily described, preserved, and searchable. Our work aims to promote data publication in research institutions, considering that researchers are the core stakeholders and need straightforward workflows, and that multi-disciplinary tools can be designed and adapted to specific areas with a reasonable effort. For small groups with interesting datasets but not much time or funding for data curation, we have to focus on engaging researchers in the process of preparing data for publication, while providing them with measurable outputs. In larger groups, solutions have to be customized to satisfy the requirements of more specific research contexts. We describe our experience at the University of Porto in two lines of enquiry. For the work with long-tail groups we propose general-purpose tools for data description and the interface to multi-disciplinary data repositories. For areas with larger projects and more specific requirements, namely wind infrastructure, sensor data from concrete structures and marine data, we define specialized workflows. In both cases, we present a preliminary evaluation of results and an estimate of the kind of effort required to keep the proposed infrastructures running.  The tools available to researchers can be decisive for their commitment. We focus on data preparation, namely on dataset organization and metadata creation. For groups in the long tail, we propose Dendro, an open-source research data management platform, and explore automatic metadata creation with LabTablet, an electronic laboratory notebook. For groups demanding a domain-specific approach, our analysis has resulted in the development of models and applications to organize the data and support some of their use cases. Overall, we have adopted ontologies for metadata modeling, keeping in sight metadata dissemination as Linked Open Data.

Abstract
Aiming to improve sustainability and life quality, urban space research is prompting an intensive use of communication and information technologies. With it, researchers are also facing more challenges regarding research data management and therefore seeking clear guidelines and tools for proper data organization, sharing and reuse. In the context of a smart cities research project, UrbanSense, held in the city of Porto, we proposed a data management plan, to support researchers from the moment they start to collect data up to the point of data publication. We also developed an ontology for the description of smart cities data, validated by UrbanSense researchers. Descriptions based on this ontology were evaluated by external parties, after the data was published in an institutional data repository. © 2018 IEEE.