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There is not a default metadata standard for research data.

• Good planning and consistency with your file names, keywords, names, and dates will result in well-described and well-organized data. This alone may create adequate metadata for your project.

There are general and discipline-specific metadata schemas available.

• Your schema will be informed by the research question you are investigating, your disciplinary focus, or even where you will publish.
• The DataCite Metadata Schema is a general schema that may be helpful for you.
• The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) is an international standard for describing data produced by surveys and other observational methods in social, behavioral, economic, and health sciences.
• The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) provides a list of disciplinary metadata schema that may be appropriate for your project.

To learn more about research data management:

• Watch the Research Data Management Basics tutorial.
• Read our library guide on research data management to learn more about metadata best practices and other strategies.

For help with your project:

• Request a consultation by filling out the online request form.