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RDMkit: Practical Guidance for Managing Research Data

What does it take to manage research data effectively from the first experiment to long-term preservation? That is the challenge addressed by RDMkit, a community-driven toolkit developed under the ELIXIR Europe network. RDMkit offers practical guidance for every step of the research data management lifecycle, empowering researchers to make their data trustworthy, reusable, and reproducible. Developed within the ELIXIR network with input from many European partners, including the Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS) and the University of Luxembourg, as part of ELIXIR Luxembourg, RDMkit provides a collaborative framework for managing research data effectively.

The challenge of research data management

Science today is increasingly data-driven. Experiments generate huge, complex datasets in different fields, such as genomics, biomedicine, or neuroscience. To make sure results are trustworthy, reusable, and reproducible, scientists need to diligently implement high-quality research data management (RDM) – the set of practices for organising, documenting, sharing and preserving data throughout the research lifecycle.

However, implementing RDM is far from simple. General guidelines are often too broad and fail to address the practical, day-to-day questions researchers face. Discipline-specific advice can be too detailed or overwhelming without clear context. Moreover, even when communities establish good guidelines, keeping them up to date and widely adopted remains a major hurdle. The solution? RDMkit.

RDMkit: a European community effort

Launched in 2021, RDMkit has since become a central gateway to ELIXIR’s research data management ecosystem. It brings together best practices from 22 countries across and beyond Europe, making it one of the most collaborative initiatives in the field.

Recently, RDMkit was formally published in Patterns (Cell Press). In this paper, RDMkit editors had the opportunity to tell the RDMkit story in detail: how it came about, what challenges it tackles, the methodology followed, as well as its open participatory processes and active community – the true power of RDMkit.

What RDMkit offers

RDMkit provides practical, structured guidance for every step of the research data management lifecycle. It helps researchers and data stewards make their data FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

Key features include:

  • Guidance on common RDM tasks: documentation, storage, sharing, and long-term preservation.
  • Domain-focused solutions: tailored advice for discipline-specific challenges in life sciences.
  • Tool assemblies: real-world examples of how different tools can be combined to manage data effectively.
  • Training resources and links to RDM tools: helping users translate guidelines into practice.
  • National resources: highlighting country-specific infrastructures, policies, and best practices.
  • Reusable open infrastructure: allowing organisations to build their own guidelines using RDMkit as a blueprint.

Furthermore, the toolkit adapts to different user roles – from researchers and data stewards to policy makers and software engineers. It provides context-aware advice that makes RDM both actionable and sustainable.

LNDS’s contribution

As part of the European effort to strengthen research data management, we at LNDS actively contributed to the development of RDMkit, reflecting Luxembourg’s commitment to open science, FAIR data principles and international collaboration.

Our contributions, as presented in the Luxembourg National Resources page, include:

  • Curating Luxembourg-specific content for the National Resources section of RDMkit, including guidance on data stewardship, metadata generation, and secure data hosting tailored to the Luxembourg research environment.
  • Providing domain-agnostic services that support researchers across disciplines, including life sciences, through infrastructure and expertise in data reuse and responsible data access.
  • Contributing to tool assemblies and FAIR data practices, helping researchers navigate the complexities of legal, ethical, and technical data management challenges.
  • Driving integration with the FAIR Cookbook, aligning practical data management guidance with FAIR principles and real-world workflows.
  • Serving on the RDMkit editorial board, contributing to the strategic development and quality assurance of the toolkit’s content.
  • Collaborating within the ELIXIR Luxembourg Node, alongside institutions such as the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), to support translational medicine and bioinformatics initiatives.

These efforts ensure that Luxembourg’s research community is not only supported locally but also actively engaged in shaping the European landscape of responsible research data management.

RDMkit’s impact and outlook

As data-driven science expands, RDMkit already plays a key role in enabling open, reproducible, and sustainable research. It provides researchers with the tools and guidance to make their data FAIR, while helping them meet the requirements of funders, journals, and collaborative initiatives.

Beyond supporting day-to-day research, RDMkit embodies the collaborative effort of 22 countries across Europe. It aligns local practices with European standards and offers organisations a reusable infrastructure to build their own tailored guidelines. For Luxembourg, contributions from our team at LNDS ensure that the national research ecosystem is represented and connected to this European initiative, raising visibility and supporting responsible data management at home and abroad.

Looking ahead, RDMkit will continue to grow as a community-led resource, ensuring that researchers, data stewards, and institutions can navigate the growing complexity of research data management with confidence.