Mapping Canadian institutional research data management strategies: a cross-sectional study

In March 2021, Canada’s three federal research funding agencies introduced the Tri-Agency Research Data Management (RDM) Policy, with the objective of promoting sound RDM and data stewardship practices at research institutions. Among the requirements of the Policy, each post-secondary institution and research hospital eligible to administer agency funds was required to publish an institutional RDM strategy. This study presents a cross-sectional mapping of published institutional strategies ( n = 211) in response to the Tri-Agency RDM Policy requirement. We extracted information pertaining to institutional characteristics, institutional needs, and support models for data management planning and data deposit. Our analysis of institutional strategies indicates that developing RDM expertise among researchers (84%, n = 177) and research support staff (61%, n = 129) is of high priority. We also found that most institutions did not describe activities to promote behavioural changes and foster a broader culture of RDM among researchers; only 6% of institutional strategies ( n = 12) explored shifting incentives and rewards. A mapping of institutional RDM strategies is an important step to identify potential gaps in responding to the Policy. We find that further efforts are needed to address consultation gaps, resource constraints, and support for data management plans and data deposit to foster a robust and effective RDM culture at Canadian research institutions.