A Scoping Review: Synthesizing Evidence on Data Management Instruction in Academic Libraries

The present scoping review examines empirical RDM instruction-related studies in academic libraries between 2010 and 2021. We searched three databases (LISTA, ERIC, and MEDLINE Complete) and two journals (Journal of eScience Librarianship and International Journal of Digital Curation) and identified 124 articles for inclusion. Cohen's kappa indicated a strong to perfect inter-rater reliability on the coding between the authors. Overall, the findings indicate an increasing trend in empirical research regarding the topic of RDM instruction across many countries and regions after 2010. Also, faculty, researchers, and librarians in the higher education field were the primary audiences for the RDM instruction with few studies addressing RDM instruction for the undergraduate and graduate levels. In terms of the RDM aspects, RDM needs assessments were investigated the most among the reviewed studies, followed by data sharing and data management plans. Additionally, the face-to-face learning context was the most popular for RDM instruction, followed by online and hybrid contexts. However, few studies used an intervention research design while delivering instruction to the target audience. This study highlights the substantial characteristics and methodological designs of the RDM instruction empirical research and provides implications for approaches and techniques used to study RDM instruction in academic libraries.