In order to avoid data losses, it is important to keep in mind some good practices for data storage:
Where ?
Important data should be kept in secure location. Avoid to store your data on your laptop, or on commercial external solution (Dropbox, Google Drive). They may be read by others and you could lost data property.聽
What we advise you to do is to keep 3 copies聽of important data, and at least two of them outside your laptop. if you store data on your laptop, make sure they are properly backed up regularly.聽
Please, use UCLouvain recommended solutions (Sharepoint Online, OneDrive): this is the best solution to guarantee RGPD, ethical requirement,聽and intellectual property. Solutions will depend different criteria, for example whether you want to share these datsets with your research partners, and the size of your data. Please look at these solutions and their advantages on this link: https://dial.uclouvain.be/RDM/node/14
How?
If several versions of a datasets are produced, it is best to follow a file naming convention.聽
Not all of these versions have to be store in 3 copies, but keep at least the raw data, the cured one, and the versions used for publications.
At the end of the project, store your data on a repository, where you can archive it for long term preservation聽