Activity Indicators
A structured framework for monitoring and assessing the activities, services and development of the NASU FAIR Data Competence Center.
The indicators support consistent documentation of consultation, training, methodological, data curation, coordination and research support activities.
They are intended for internal monitoring, annual reporting and evidence-based planning of the Center’s future work.
Document information
Key information about the purpose, status and use of the activity indicators.
Document type
Monitoring and evaluation framework
Purpose
Documentation, assessment and planning of the Center’s activities
Reporting period
Continuous monitoring with annual consolidation
Available formats
PDF for reference
XLSX or DOCX for practical use
About the indicators
The Activity Indicators provide a common structure for recording and assessing the work of the NASU FAIR Data Competence Center.
They cover the main areas of the Center’s mandate, including consultations, training, methodological support, data curation, development of practical resources, cooperation with partner institutions and participation in research data infrastructure initiatives.
The indicators are intended to demonstrate the scale and range of activities without reducing evaluation exclusively to the number of events, consultations or documents produced.
Quantitative indicators should therefore be considered together with qualitative information about user needs, completed cases, service development, institutional cooperation and achieved results.
Monitoring document
Current published version
Activity Indicators of the NASU FAIR Data Competence Center.
Version: [version number]
Published: [publication date]
Language: [language]
Format: PDF
What the indicators cover
The framework groups indicators according to the principal areas of activity of the Competence Center.
Consultation and support
Records consultations provided to researchers, research groups, institutions and research infrastructure units.
It may cover data management planning, FAIR assessment, metadata, repositories, licensing, persistent identifiers and data publication.
Training and capacity building
Covers webinars, workshops, courses, instructional sessions and other activities aimed at developing research data management competencies.
Indicators may include participation, institutional coverage and the development of training materials.
Data curation and publication
Covers support for preparing datasets, metadata records, FAIR data packages and related documentation for repository publication.
It may also document completed curation cases and published datasets.
Resources and guidance
Covers the preparation and updating of templates, guidelines, checklists, metadata profiles and other practical resources.
It may also include the use and reuse of these materials by researchers and partner institutions.
Partnerships and coordination
Records cooperation with research institutions, repositories, research infrastructures, data experts and national or international open science initiatives.
Indicators may include joint activities, working groups and coordinated support cases.
Organisational development
Covers the development of services, internal procedures, expert capacity, digital resources and mechanisms for monitoring and improving the Center’s work.
It may also reflect progress in implementing the Center’s annual priorities.
Types of indicators
Different types of indicators are used to distinguish completed activities from their outputs, results and quality.
Activity indicators
Record the actions performed by the Center, such as consultations, events, reviews and support cases.
Output indicators
Record tangible products, including guidelines, templates, metadata profiles, curated packages and published resources.
Outcome indicators
Describe changes resulting from the Center’s work, such as improved practices, service adoption or successful data publication.
Quality indicators
Support assessment of relevance, completeness, timeliness, user satisfaction and compliance with established procedures.
Principles for using the indicators
The indicators are intended to support monitoring and improvement, rather than to create an excessive administrative reporting burden.
Only activities that can be confirmed through appropriate records should be included. The same activity should not be counted repeatedly under several indicators unless the indicator methodology explicitly permits this.
Quantitative values should be accompanied, where relevant, by short qualitative explanations, examples of completed work and information about significant constraints or changes during the reporting period.
Indicators should be interpreted in the context of the Center’s available staff, resources, institutional mandate and approved annual priorities.
Data sources and reporting
Indicator values should be based on traceable operational records maintained during the reporting period.
Monitoring records
Periodic entries made using the approved Monitoring Form.
Service records
Consultation logs, curation records, helpdesk requests and completed support cases.
Event records
Agendas, participant records, training materials and event reports.
Annual reporting
Consolidated indicator values and qualitative explanations included in the annual report.
Monitoring and reporting workflow
The Activity Indicators are used together with the Monitoring Form and the Annual Report Template.
1. Define
Activity Indicators
Determine what information about the Center’s activities and results should be recorded.
2. Collect
Monitoring Form
Provides a standard structure for collecting information during the reporting period.
3. Report
Annual Report
Consolidates the collected data and presents the Center’s annual activities and results.
Document access and version control
The reference version of the Activity Indicators may be published in PDF format. An editable XLSX or DOCX version may be provided for monitoring and annual reporting.
Each published version should indicate its status, version number, publication or approval date and the body responsible for maintaining the document.
Changes to indicator definitions, units of measurement or calculation rules should be documented to preserve comparability between reporting periods.
Users should verify that they are applying the current version before entering monitoring data or preparing an annual report.