If you are working on a collaborative research project determine a versioning system and a process to ensure the latest file is always being accessed and modified before the research project starts. Some versioning principles to follow in your data management practices include: 

• Always keep well-documented versions of the original data, and the normalized/standardized versions of the data.
• Use version numbers in the file name: v001, v002, v003...
• Include information in the file name about significant changes: such as ‘cropped’, ‘normalized’, etc.
• At the end of the project, or after the appropriate retention time, delete the versions that you no longer need

NOTE: Many storage options include automated version control.

Backing up is important for all your files, but for those high-value files, such as your original research data, use the Rule of Three:

• Three copies
• Two different media types (hard drive and cloud, or CD and cloud service, etc.)
• One off-site back-up (Unless you are handling restricted data. Then you must ensure that your back-ups comply with your security plan. Unsure what restricted data is? Check out OSU's classification assignments.)