Data can be "any information that can be stored in digital form, including text, numbers, images, video or movies, audio, software, algorithms, equations, animations, models, simulations, etc." (National Science Board, 2005).
The definition of research data varies depending discipline and research funder.
- Research data is the output from any systematic investigation that involves a process of observation, experiment or the testing of a hypothesis (Pryor, 2012).
- Research data is " the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings." (OMB Circular 110)
- Scientific data is "recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publications." (Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing)
