What is the Data Lifecycle?

The Biomedical Data Lifecycle is a representation of stages in your research regarding data collection, use, and storage. At the core is how to "Store & Manage" the data for your project. How data is managed is integral to each stage in the diagram. Though the process is generally linear from "Plan & Design" to "Publish & Reuse," you may find yourself jumping around this lifecycle throughout your project.

Below is a description of the core stages of the inner section of the cycle. The diagram's outer layer represents the processes and concepts that are integral to each stage. However, many of the stages overlap.

For example, "Data Management Plans" are created at the planning stage but will be used throughout the research process in subsequent stages. The plan dictates how you will handle the data collected and created, and how you will share and disseminate that data, all while considering data documentation, safety, and reuse.

This diagram depicts the core stages of the research lifecycle. The center of the wheel has a grey circle labeled "Store & Manage." The second layer is cut into six segments labeled "Plan & Design" in dark blue, "Collect & Create" in light green, "Analyze & Collaborate" in dark green, "Evaluate & Archive" in gold, "Share & Disseminate" in red, and "Publish & Reuse" in orange. Guiding arrows are at the edge of each segment, showing the process to be continuous like a wheel. The third layer expands the colors of each of the six sections and includes sub-elements of activities or resources that are involved in each of the six segments.

  • Plan & Design: Plan processes from onboarding to project closure and data resources

  • Collect & Create: Organization and integration of data sets and collection processes

  • Analyze & Collaborate: Processing and analyzing data should be collaborative and documented

  • Store & Manage: Each stage of the Biomedical Data Lifecycle revolves around the management of data storage

  • Evaluate & Archive: Identify essential research records and evaluate for retention

  • Share & Disseminate: Establishing and supporting the reach and impact of your data

  • Publish & Reuse: Ensuring the broad utility of your research data efforts for other researchers

Creative Commons License logo Research Data Lifecycle by LMA Research Data Management Working Group is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Interested in using our lifecycle? The outer second tier can be customized with text and number of segments 2, 3, or 4, to meet the needs of different Harvard Schools and data teams. Find all versions and materials for the lifecycle in Zenodo.

Have you customized this diagram? We would love to know!