Your Data Matters More Than You Think
What’s left after the books are printed and the articles published? The data that made them possible. In a world increasingly shaped by digital research, we rarely stop to ask what happens to the sources, interviews, spreadsheets, facsimiles, and field notes that underpin our work. Polina Solonets invites us to do just that. With the institute’s new Research Data Policy now in effect, she launches a blog series that puts research data where it belongs: at the center of scholarly practice.
Research data management (RDM) is often misunderstood as a bureaucratic obligation - something for grant applications or IT departments. But as Solonets shows, it is a fundamental part of good research: it protects your work, improves collaboration, increases visibility, and opens up new possibilities for sharing and reusing knowledge. From file chaos and lost backups to legal rights and open science, this series walks you through the real risks and hidden potential of how we treat our data.
If you've ever lost a file, struggled with version control, or wondered who actually owns the data you generate - this is for you. Whether you're planning your next archive trip or already knee-deep in digital sources, it’s time to ask: what would it mean to treat your data not as a byproduct, but as a lasting contribution to the field?