Daejeon, July 27–31
Research projects for the collection, digitization, organization and representation of cultural heritage in the sense of the memory of the world are typically designed for the development of sustainable concepts to ensure the long-term findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability (Wilkinson et al. 2016) of digital/digitized data, artefacts and heritage. At the same time, many research projects exist whose main goal is to answer specific research: also these work with objects of investigation that are part of the cultural heritage and produce knowledge that is in the same sense worth preserving. While the former are usually experts in research data management (RDM), the latter often need support in handling, managing, storing and publishing both their objects of investigation and produced research results and findings. (Wilkinson et al. 2016) of digital/digitized data, artefacts and heritage. At the same time, many research projects exist whose main goal is to answer specific research: also these work with objects of investigation that are part of the cultural heritage and produce knowledge that is in the same sense worth preserving. While the former are usually experts in research data management (RDM), the latter often need support in handling, managing, storing and publishing both their objects of investigation and produced research results and findings.
For example, generic institutions like the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) Digital Curation Centre (DCC), Online: https://www.dcc.ac.uk/ (last access: 12th December 2025). Data Center for the Humanities (DCH), Online: https://dch.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/ (last access: 12th December 2025). National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), Online: https://nfdi.de/ (last access: 12th December 2025). Digital Humanities Infrastructure in Austria, https://www.dhinfra.at/ (last access: 12th December 2025). e.g. Data Center for the Humanities (DCH), University of Cologne (Germany), Online: https://dch.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/; New York University Libraries Research Data Management Services (United States of America), Online: https://guides.nyu.edu/data_management; Research Data Services Directory University of Melbourne (Australia), Online: https://dataservices.research.unimelb.edu.au/; Digital Scholarship Services – Research Data Management, University of Cape Town (South Africa), Online: https://lib.uct.ac.za/digitalservices/services/research-data-management (all last access: 09th of December 2025). see Re3data, Online: https://www.re3data.org/ (last access: 12th December 2025).
While many RDM service centers conducted studies on the evaluation of RDM requirements of their targeted researchers (e.g. Parsons 2013; Fellous-Sigrist 2016; Arndt et al. 2018; Donald et al. 2023; Zhou et al. 2023), only a few have done research on other RDM aspects – examples are the form of implementation of RDM services (e.g. Parsons 2013; Fellous-Sigrist 2016; Arndt et al. 2018; Donald et al. 2023; Zhou et al. 2023), only a few have done research on other RDM aspects – examples are the form of implementation of RDM services (e.g. Cox et al. 2017; Singh et al. 2022; Amanullah and Abrizah 2023; Hackett and Kim 2024) or the role of different stakeholders and infrastructures within the RDM landscape (e.g. Cox et al. 2017; Singh et al. 2022; Amanullah and Abrizah 2023; Hackett and Kim 2024) or the role of different stakeholders and infrastructures within the RDM landscape (e.g. Flores et al. 2015; Luther 2018; Arlitsch and Grant 2018; Brand et al. 2023). (e.g. Flores et al. 2015; Luther 2018; Arlitsch and Grant 2018; Brand et al. 2023).
Although they are often the first point of contact for researchers, the organization, implementation and establishment of RDM counseling services RDM counseling services involve RDM experts assisting and supporting researchers in addressing challenges regarding to RDM. These services are usually conducted through personal or online meetings. Due to the fact, that the presented study is part of a research project with a focus on RDM in Germany the explicit focus on the German-speaking area is reasonable. Nevertheless, the method of the study is highly applicable in other national or international contexts.
The survey is structured into six content-related parts and consists of 45 questions. The survey was realized through an institutional Lime-Survey Server offered by the University of Cologne. Results of a pretest of the survey were taken into account before the start of the study. Subject Area Structure of the German Research Foundation, Online: https://www.dfg.de/resource/blob/331944/fachsystematik-2024-2028-de.pdf (last access: 12th December 2025).
The data and results of the survey are part of a broader data publication on Zenodo (Helling 2025b).(Helling 2025b).
The survey was actively sampled and published by sending an invitation for participation to 73 RDM service centers listed on forschungsdaten.org https://www.forschungsdaten.org/index.php/Hauptseite (last access: 12th December 2025). Working group „Research Data Management within the Humanities“ oft he association „Digital Humanities in the German-speaking Areas (DHd)“, Online: https://www.forschungsdaten.org/index.php/Hauptseite (last access: 12th December 2025). Association „Digital Humanities in the German-speakting Areas (DHd)“, Online: https://digitalhumanities.de/ (last access: 12th December 2025).
In many cases RDM service centers are part of academic libraries but also IT centers play a crucial role in the context of RDM (see Fig. 1).
Figure 1: Organizational affiliation of RDM service centers | N = 39.
Most of the participating RDM service centers were established between 2015 and 2020 (see Fig. 2) which is closely connected to important scientific and political decisions regarding RDM in Germany (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz 2014; 2015; Rat für Informationsinfrastrukturen 2016) and the publication of the FAIR-Principles.(Hochschulrektorenkonferenz 2014; 2015; Rat für Informationsinfrastrukturen 2016) and the publication of the FAIR-Principles.
Figure 2: Frequency of founded RDM service centers per year | N = 41.
Although many data managers in Germany are still trying to establish permanent RDM positions, most of the participating RDM counseling services are already funded permanently (see Fig. 3).
Figure 3: Funding situation of RDM service centers | N = 41.
While most of the RDM counseling service units consist of 0.5 to 1.5 full positions on average, the yearly emergence of consultation requests is with 30 meetings on a scalable level. Cam
Very few RDM centers involve external RDM experts during their counseling meetings with researchers (see Tab 1). A reason for that could be that most of the RDM centers do not need external support for dealing with RDM requirements of researchers. However, there could be a lack of networking between RDM experts which could make it impossible for RDM centers to involve external RDM experts. Many activities for fostering networks between RDM experts for mutual support in Germany (e.g. Engel et al. 2024) confirm this interpretation.(e.g. Engel et al. 2024) confirm this interpretation.
Tab. 1: Frequency of the involvement of external RDM experts within RDM counseling meetings | N = 41.
It is particularly noteworthy that most of the counseling requests are made by researchers working within the Arts and Humanities (see Fig. 4). This result underlines that there is great demand from this research field. Accordingly, there is a crucial need for developing domain-specific RDM competencies, services and RDM training.
Figure 4: Average percentage frequency of RDM counceling requests by research fields (according to the subject area structure of the German Research Foundation) | N = 41.
For the evaluation of RDM requirements that were discussed within RDM counseling meetings, 13 topics were defined based on the structures of the research data life cycle and the work experience of the author of this study.
Figure 5: Frequency of RDM requirements within RDM counseling meetings | N = 41.
The results (see Fig. 5), which differ in part from results of former RDM requirement analysis (e.g. Barsky 2017; Donald u. a. 2023; Zhou u. a. 2023), show that topics related to the planning of RDM within research projects are common requirements. Also, ethical and legal questions as well as support regarding the storage of research data during a research project are frequent requirements, too. While the publication of research data and results is also a prominent requirement, their archiving is a surprisingly rare topic. After all, the archiving of research data and results is an essential part of good scientific practice (e.g. Barsky 2017; Donald u. a. 2023; Zhou u. a. 2023), show that topics related to the planning of RDM within research projects are common requirements. Also, ethical and legal questions as well as support regarding the storage of research data during a research project are frequent requirements, too. While the publication of research data and results is also a prominent requirement, their archiving is a surprisingly rare topic. After all, the archiving of research data and results is an essential part of good scientific practice (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2025) and crucial in RDM. At this point it could be assumed that many researchers already have a lot of competencies in archiving research data. However, it is more likely that this result is connected to the fact that many researchers understand the same thing by (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2025) and crucial in RDM. At this point it could be assumed that many researchers already have a lot of competencies in archiving research data. However, it is more likely that this result is connected to the fact that many researchers understand the same thing by publishing and archiving (e.g. Jung et al. 2023). (e.g. Jung et al. 2023).
Most of the participating RDM service centers have already implemented documentation processes within their counseling services (see Fig. 6) for several purposes e.g., reporting, support of counseling meetings and knowledge transfer. These are comparable to purposes described by Helling et al. (2024).(2024).
Figure 6: Frequency of documentation of RDM counseling meetings | N = 41.
Several information categories are documented by the RDM centers e.g., RDM requirements, recommendations and measures that need to be fulfilled by either the researchers or the RDM centers for solving RDM challenges (see Fig. 7). The fact that many RDM centers document necessary measures underlines that a RDM counseling process does not end with the counseling meeting itself but also includes additional tasks. Although research data are core to RDM, information about them is documented by relatively few RDM centers.
Figure 7: Documented information within RDM counseling meetings | N = 36 (multiple answers possible).
Nearly half of the RDM centers that document RDM counseling meetings also analyze these documentations (see Fig. 8).
Figure 8: Frequency of analyzation of RDM counseling documentation | N = 36.
They mostly focus on the analysis of RDM requirements and the context of RDM counseling meetings (see Tab. 2). These results show that the potential of analyzing RDM counseling meetings e.g., improvement of RDM services, is already recognized although it is not implemented in depth.
Tab. 2: Topics of analysis within RDM counseling documentation | N = 16 (multiple answers possible).
The results of the study give a precise overview regarding the organization and implementation of RDM counseling services within Germany. They help to identify existing good practices while also illustrating frequent RDM requirements. Accordingly, the study contributes to a better understanding of how RDM counseling services work.
Finally, the described results can be used as an orientation point for the establishment of new RDM counseling services. In addition, they make necessary adjustments of RDM counseling services visible: a bigger focus on RDM within the Arts and Humanities; the establishment of networks between data managers to support the exchange of knowledge and expertise; the further promotion and elaboration of the potentials that documentation and analysis processes within RDM counseling can bring.
In particular, the study and results can be reused in other countries and scientific systems for evaluating RDM counseling services there. Accordingly, the study contributes to the ongoing professionalization of research data management on an international level.
In my talk I will present more results of the survey in detail and argue for the advantages of the used method. On this basis, I will also plea for the general necessity of data-driven findings on how RDM (support) is conducted to foster the management of research data sustainably.