The Rural Economy and Land Use
(Relu) Programme, which undertakes
interdisciplinary research between
social and natural sciences, has
brought together research
communities with different cultures
and practices of data management and sharing. It has
been at the forefront of cross-disciplinary data
management and sharing by developing a proactive
data management policy and the first cross-council Data
Support Service. It adopted a systematic approach from
the start to data management, drawing on best practice
from its constituent Research Councils. The Data
Support Service helped to inculcate researchers from
across different research communities into good data
management practices and planning and its close
engagement with researchers laid an important basis for
this best practice guide. It also orchestrates the linked
Research data are a valuable resource, usually requiring
much time and money to be produced. Many data have a
significant value beyond usage for the original research.