Enable admins to comment proactively on a DMP

[cmgib]

Context

Research services staff are increasingly using DMPonline to engage with researchers by providing feedback on DMPs. At present, engagement via DMPonline is only possible when a researcher selects the ‘Request feedback’ button, which allows admins to respond using the ‘Comments’ feature (see screenshot):

Use case

An admin (research services staff) identifies an issue with a DMP and needs to proactively flag this with the DMP owner (Principal Investigator or Data Contact Person). Since this is not yet possible via DMPonline, the admin must contact the DMP owner using other channels e.g. by email.

New feature proposal

To enhance researcher support, enable admins to proactively submit a comment on a DMP.

When a proactive comment is submitted this would trigger an email to alert the DMP owner. The email alert would:

• include a link to the DMP,
• flag which section and question had received a new comment, and
• indicate who had submitted the comment (e.g. using the admin’s email address).

In case there are multiple proactive comments then it may be helpful for the DMP owner if the email alert could be triggered overnight and sent in a digest form listing all of that day’s comments.

Benefits

The new feature would be more efficient for admins and DMP owners alike. In particular, comments and conversations would be conveniently recorded in the relevant DMP and co-located with the relevant sections and questions.

The new feature would allow advice and responses to be documented in one place, demonstrating compliance with relevant policies and data protection legislation. Since this feature is interactive, researchers would engage with the process a lot more.

Additionally, when experts across multi-disciplinary research services teams (e.g. data protection, ethics, IT) comment on a DMP, they will be able to see each other’s comments. This will ensure better co-ordination of advice, and prevent many teams bombarding a researcher with the same questions / comments.

Finally, the new feature would allow DMPs to be used for documenting any risks raised e.g. regarding processing of the data.

Potential solution

Might one potential solution be to configure DMPonline so that newly created DMPs can be shared with an institution’s admins who have been assigned privileges to ‘Review plans’?

[dancrane-kcl]

We would see a use for this too, at King's!

[sjDCC]

Thanks for suggesting this @cmgib We'll discuss at our next meeting

[cmgib]

Thanks @sjDCC. In general, I think this feature would allow admins (professional services, data stewards, etc.) to start conversations about DMPs, which is an excellent opportunity to increase engagement with researchers.

[dsisu]

This request was also put forward as part of the 2020 UX exercise.

The user said: enable reviewers (admins) co comment proactively on a plan before feedback is actually requested.

This is particularly relevant to organisations using the API, who get notified when a new plan is created.