When doing research data management is critical. You have to organize, document, store, and share both physical and digital research data. This ensures the reliability of your research results. Research data has its own lifespan but it is also relevant beyond the original project. Others can use it and benefit from it. The Unix operating system provides a way for you to manage your data. You don’t have to learn thousands of commands or complicated scripts to get started. Data scientists use it all the time. Knowing how to use it will help you in your research process.
Before your research
Create a data management plan
A data management plan (DMP) is a formal document. It outlines your research workflow and information you will generate, collect, or re-use. It will include your research output format and metadata. You will also include your budget, access and sharing policies, and long-term storage.
The DMP ensures that you meet the requirements of your institution and research funders. It creates a clear structure for organizing your data throughout the research life cycle. It also ensures that others will understand your data in the future and can use it.
Creating a data management plan takes time. This reduces the time you have to research and write your paper. You may find you need to reach out to a research paper writing service for help. At the online service, EduBirdie, you will find well-vetted professional writers who hold plenty of experience in various types of academic papers from students with diverse backgrounds. You can ask a writer to write my research paper and give instructions as per your requirements. You will receive exactly what you ask for and with more wherever the expert writer thinks necessary. There is nothing better than outsourcing when a student is in a critical situation.
During your research
Setting up and documenting your workflows ensures your the safety of information. You can automate your workflows using Unix shell scripts.
Organize
Unix gives you a logical and hierarchical directory structure to organize your data. You can organize it by project, data, or experiment.
Think about what files you will create and what goes together logically. When you have a well-arranged and logical folder structure, you can quickly navigate your data and find what you need.
Use standardized naming conventions. This makes it easier to keep a manageable number of files and versions.
Set up a strategy for version control. Store raw data in a separate, protected location. With Unix commands, you can document processing steps in README.md files and scripts. You can do your analyses on a working copy of your raw data. With Unix, you can automate your backups and use Git for version control. It’s important to make and store copies of your data in more than one place.
Count and mine data
The Unix operating system gives you a way to count and mine data. You have access to an array of powerful commands. Your Excel spreadsheets may contain thousands of lines and the sequence files can become too large to open. Unix allows you to split and merge, compress large files to save space, and use tools for batch processing.
You only have to learn about twelve simple commands to get started. This allows you to undertake tasks that are impossible in Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs. You can extend the commands for use with data that isn’t tabulated too.
Process data
Use Unix command line tools for processing.
- Search within files.
- Manipulate structured data.
- Edit files in place.
- Prevent duplication.
Analyze
Unix-based operating systems allow you to analyze next-generation sequence (NGS) data. Many bioinformatics analysis programs work with Unix-based operating systems.
Collaborate
You can collaborate on Unix servers and use Unix tools to interact with cloud storage.
After your research
Given its sensitivity, you need to properly back up, protect, and archive your data.
Data access and permissions allow you to protect your sensitive data. You can use Unix commands to manage file and directory permissions.
Use encryption to protect sensitive files.
Tools like scp or rsync help you to transfer securely.
After your research, you will publish your research outputs in an archival repository. This ensures others can access it for future use.
Conclusion
By using Unix, you can manage your data efficiently. You can count, mine, and organize large amounts of data. Using Unix commands allows you to process data, analyze it, and collaborate with others. This enhances its reliability and reproducibility. All of this helps with maintaining robust workflows for academic research.
