ARIADNEplus Data Management Plan Tools

Version 1.0, 25 March 2022, CCBY
Authors: Peter Doorn (DANS) and Paola Ronzino (PIN)

An ever-growing number of research funding and research performing organisations require archaeologists to demonstrate that they manage their data responsibly: when you submit a proposal for funding, a data management plan (DMP) is often required. The rationale for this is the idea that scientific research should be transparent and replicable, and that its results, including research data, should be shared whenever possible. In order to accomplish this, data should comply with the FAIR data principles, meaning that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, see: www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/

A complication is that the requirements, though similar in intention, tend to vary across funders and universities.

In the ARIADNEplus project, we developed online tools to assist archaeologists who want to (or are obliged to) make a data management plan by offering assistance providing:

• A Protocol for Archaeological Data Management, based on the Science Europe guide for research data management (including directions for evaluating DMPs). Many research councils and universities in Europe, including the European Commission for the Horizon Europe programme, accept the Science Europe core requirements for making a data management plan (DMP). This protocol can be considered as a standard DMP for archaeological research based on the principle of “comply or explain”. If you deviate from the standard compliance or need to give further details, the protocol provides you the opportunity to make supplementary comments.
• The ARIADNEplus DMP Researcher Template for Archaeological Datasets based on the Horizon 2020 requirements. The template addresses researchers in the archaeological domain and is tailored to the community needs, including standards and tools commonly used in their daily practices. With its structure and the suggested answers, the DMP helps researchers think about what to do with their research data, how to collect and to keep track of it, thus helping to identify the support, standards and services needed. It is a useful instrument to plan for short- and long-term storage, and to prepare data for re-use by acknowledging the sources and intellectual contributions according to legal terms and conditions that may include limited privileged use.
• The new Horizon Europe Template for Archaeological Datasets which provides guidance and suggested answers to archaeologists including standards and tools commonly used in their daily practices.
• An harmonized Guide for Archaeological Data Management Planning that can be consulted for both DMP templates and the protocol.

For any enquiries concerning Data Management Plan template please contact: contact@ariadne-infrastructure.eu