Data Management

Routine Data Management & Data Review Best Practices

Routine data review and proactive data management are essential components of maintaining high-quality research data. Study teams should regularly export, review, verify, and securely retain their project data throughout the lifecycle of the study — not only at project closure.

Important: REDCap should not be treated as the sole or permanent storage location for study data. Study teams are responsible for routinely reviewing and securely retaining their project data and related materials throughout the duration of the project.

Why Routine Data Management Matters

Routine data management helps study teams:

  • Identify missing, inconsistent, or inaccurate data early
  • Reduce the risk of data loss
  • Maintain regulatory and study compliance
  • Improve overall data quality and study integrity
  • Prepare for monitoring, audits, analysis, and project closure

Regular review also allows teams to identify workflow issues, user entry errors, incomplete records, or unexpected trends before they become larger problems later in the study.

Best practice: Data management should occur continuously throughout the study lifecycle — not only at the end of the project.

Study teams should routinely:

  • Export and review study data regularly
  • Review incomplete, missing, or unexpected values
  • Run Data Quality Rules
  • Monitor reports and dashboards
  • Review uploaded files and eConsent records
  • Verify that calculated fields are evaluating correctly
  • Confirm branching logic and survey workflows continue functioning as expected
  • Securely store copies of important study data and materials outside REDCap

The frequency of review should be appropriate for the complexity, enrollment activity, and regulatory requirements of the study.

Important: REDCap administrators do not routinely monitor or validate study data for completeness, accuracy, or protocol compliance. Data oversight remains the responsibility of the study team.

Routine Data Exports

Study teams should routinely export and review their project data throughout the study.

Navigate to:

Applications → Data Exports, Reports, and Stats

Regular exports help:

  • Verify data completeness
  • Identify inconsistencies or unexpected values
  • Maintain local study copies for analysis and retention
  • Support monitoring and regulatory review activities
Best practice: Export and review data routinely throughout active enrollment and data collection periods rather than waiting until study closure.

Your available export options depend on your assigned Data Export Rights.

Routine Data Review & Verification

Routine review should include checking for:

  • Missing or incomplete records
  • Unexpected outliers or invalid values
  • Duplicate entries
  • Incorrect dates or time sequences
  • Unexpected survey responses
  • Calculation discrepancies
  • Incorrect branching logic behavior
  • Missing uploaded files or consent documents

Study teams should also periodically review:

  • User rights and project permissions
  • Survey workflows and automated invitations
  • Alerts & Notifications
  • Longitudinal event assignments
Important: Calculated fields should be periodically reviewed to ensure stored values continue to match the underlying data, particularly after imports, edits, or workflow changes.

Using REDCap Data Quality Tools

REDCap includes built-in Data Quality Rules that can help identify potential data issues.

Navigate to:

Applications → Data Quality

Examples include:

  • Missing required values
  • Invalid field values
  • Incorrect calculated field values
  • Potential duplicate records
  • Data discrepancies
Helpful tip: Data Quality Rule H can help identify incorrect stored values for calculated fields by comparing stored calculations against current underlying data.

Using Reports for Ongoing Review

Custom reports can help teams monitor study progress and identify issues more efficiently.

Reports may be useful for:

  • Tracking incomplete records
  • Monitoring enrollment
  • Reviewing missing forms or visits
  • Reviewing uploaded files
  • Monitoring survey completion
  • Preparing for monitoring or analysis activities

Study teams are encouraged to create reports tailored to their specific workflows and review needs.

Managing eConsent PDFs & Uploaded Files

If your project uses:

  • eConsent Framework PDFs
  • File Upload fields
  • Participant-uploaded documents

those materials should also be routinely reviewed and securely retained outside REDCap when appropriate.

Large zip downloads may occasionally fail or time out, particularly for projects containing many uploaded files or PDFs.

Important: Study teams are responsible for ensuring required regulatory or study documents are securely retained outside REDCap when long-term retention is required.

Secure Storage & Retention

Study data and related materials should be securely stored in institutionally approved locations outside REDCap.

Examples may include:

  • Departmental secure servers
  • Institutional OneDrive storage
  • Approved research storage environments

Storage practices should align with:

  • IRB requirements
  • HIPAA requirements
  • Study sponsor requirements
  • Institutional data retention policies
Best practice: Maintain periodic secure backups and verify exported files can be opened and accessed before relying on them for retention purposes.

Final Reminder

Routine data management is an ongoing study responsibility and an important part of maintaining high-quality, reliable, and compliant research data.

Best practice: Regularly review, export, verify, and securely retain your data throughout the lifecycle of the project — not only at project closure.