Research Data Management Resources

A README file is a text file that contains information about other files in a directory.

For eScholarship@UMassChan, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School's institutional repository, a README file is required before your data is approved for posting in the repository. The general README file we suggest you complete is available here:

If your discipline requires more rigorous and detailed README files or metadata, you can upload that file with the data you are depositing into eScholarship@UMassChan.

Example README files:

If you have questions about completing a README file, or other questions about managing and sharing your data, please contact Tess Grynoch, tess.grynoch@umassmed.edu

A data dictionary represents the structure of your dataset. Each row in a data dictionary, which is generally a spreadsheet, corresponds to a field in your data entry form and provides a detailed description of each variable, such as:

• Variable name
• Variable meaning
• Variable units
• Variable format
• Permissible values or range of values
• Known issues with the data (systematic errors, missing values, etc.)
• Relationship with other variables
• Null value indicator
• Anything else someone needs to know to better understand the data

If you have questions about compiling a data dictionary, or other questions about managing and sharing your data, please contact Tess Grynoch, tess.grynoch@umassmed.edu