Serving Data Right: A Data Steward’s Guide to RDM Tool Evaluation
Research Data Management (RDM) is becoming an integral component of modern scientific practice covering all the steps of the research life cycle. As research institutions seek to put the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles of RDM into practice, an increasing number of open-source RDM platforms and tools have emerged to support data collection, sharing, and publication. Selecting a relevant tool based on project and domain requirements is becoming complex, primarily because the existing evaluation methods are disconnected from the practical needs, user roles, and resource constraints. This paper addresses this complexity by introducing a structured, reusable, adaptable, and user-centered framework that includes a guide for the systematic evaluation of open-source RDM repositories across several technical, usability, and operational dimensions. Building on persona focused stakeholder requirements, the framework enables researchers, data stewards, and institutions to identify and compare key selection criteria, aligning tool capabilities with project-specific and organizational needs. Supplementing this framework, this paper provides an evaluation guide that supports researchers and data stewards in making informed, transparent, and context-aware decisions for choosing a specific RDM tool that fits their needs.
Following open science, the complete evaluation guide is available for use at:
\href{https://github.com/FAIRSpace-Cologne/DataStewardGuides}{https://github.com/FAIRSpace-Cologne/DataStewardGuides}.