In the research sphere, data management as an aspect of research management has assumed tremendous significance, particularly with an expansion in the educational research enterprise. Data management represented by the acronym RDM describes the management and organization, storage, preservation, and sharing of data collected and used in a research undertaking. To this end, the study focused on data management in research practices in higher educational institutions: issues in the research sphere. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study, and the design adopted was ex-post facto with an accessible population of 790 data analysts in selected higher educational institutions in Nigeria. The study adopted the multistage sampling technique with a sample size of 385 (50%). The instrument used for data collection was a researchers’ validated instrument titled “Data Collection Scale for Researchers (DCSR)” which was validated using the inter-rater reliability method by experts in the field of Education and the coefficient of internal consistency ranged from 0.74 to 0.79. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and bar charts). The findings of the study revealed that most data analyzed were cooked (not real) irrespective of the fact that the results were quite outstanding. Also, most data were analyzed by quacks who do not have the required skills in research practices. The study, therefore, recommended the need for compulsory participation in workshops, seminars, and conferences by all lecturers, students, and other education researchers in the academic environment to produce a worthwhile output that will inform policy decisions. Conclusively, the study proposed the need for research and data management centers along with research ethics committees to be established by institutions as these will help to checkmate and promote quality data management by research scholars