Federal sponsors like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have long encouraged researchers to manage and share the data from their work with the public and other researchers to support reproducibility and accelerate discoveries. In recent years, such management has become a requirement across most federal funders, and sharing has become an expectation. But simply “managing data” is not as easy as it sounds. What kind of data is it? How can a researcher ensure long-term preservation of the data? What if the data contains private information?
To support faculty, students, and staff as they navigate the complexities of research data management and sharing, Penn State has launched the Research Data Stewardship Program, a partnership between University Libraries and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research. This program was developed in part based on feedback from 2023-24 town halls and focus groups led by the Research Data Management Policy Committee. The committee heard that in addition to the need for a policy to protect and assist with data issues, researchers needed support with securing, preserving, and sharing their data. University Policy RP15: Research Data Management, released in June of 2025, provides guiding principles for research data and records management across the University, and the Research Data Stewardship Program will assist researchers with providing best practices and guidance for this management.
Briana Wham, director of Research Data Stewardship, leads the department that will provide guidance, training, and consulting services for data management planning and implementation, statistical analysis, as well as data sharing. Along with the University Libraries Strategic Technologies Department, the department also hosts, manages, and provides curation services for a Penn State institutional repository, ScholarSphere, where researchers can openly share articles, data, and other creative works. Further, the University maintains membership in the Data Curation Network, a national network of 23 institutional and non-profit data repositories, which allows for shared expert curation across multiple peer institutions.
With her own experience as a researcher, Wham is passionate about establishing this program because she understands firsthand the importance of data management, “I’ve been there. I know that if data isn’t managed or curated well, it can be hard to understand a few years down the road—even for yourself.” As such, Wham says, “We want researchers to know that we have resources available to help them navigate data management across the life cycle: from thinking about data collection to choosing a repository. Additionally, we want to make it easier for researchers to connect with the support services currently available as well as to help us identify gaps that we can build support for.”
As part of the program, the Quality Assurance team in the Office for Research Protections will also support data management of active research with data management reviews. Researchers are reminded to follow these best practices:
- Secure Storage: Use University-owned or approved devices and storage locations with appropriate security measures (see Information Security’s Permitted Storage).
- Data Protection: Establish and maintain procedures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of research data.
- Access and Sharing: Manage retention (minimum of seven years after final reporting or publication) and sharing of data in accordance with funder and University requirements.
- Data-Related Regulatory Agreements: Obtain necessary agreements (e.g., data use agreements, material transfer agreements) before sharing data when required.
The Libraries provides guidance on these topics on their website, and the Research Data Stewardship Program will be developing additional resources.