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The Graduate Health & Life Sciences Research Library at Georgetown University Medical Center

Research Data Management

Best practices and tools for managing your research data.

3-2-1 Rule

To keep data safe, it is recommended that you maintain three copies:

  1. Original
  2. External hard drive in a different physical location from the original (e.g., saved to external hard drive that is periodically updated)
  3. Secure cloud service

Storage Best Practices and Options

It is also recommended that backups be saved in open or standard file formats, and not be compressed or encrypted (though sensitive data may require encryption, see below). Utilize hard drives (with backups), departmental or university servers, and commercial cloud storage. Do not use CDs or DVDs as these have been known to fail frequently.

Resources at Georgetown

Subjects: Datasets as Topic

The Responsible Use of Electronic Resources policy governs the use of resources provided on these guides.

© Dahlgren Memorial Library, Georgetown University Medical Center. Unless otherwise stated, these guides may be used for educational or academic purposes as long as proper attribution is given. Please seek permission for any modifications, adaptations, or for commercial purposes. Email dmlresources@georgetown.edu to request permission.

Proper attribution includes: Written by or adapted from, Dahlgren Memorial Library, URL.