Sharing research data
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Benefits of sharing data
Sharing research data is a key component of open research practice and research data management and has numerous benefits for you, the University, and the research community. Data sharing is also mandated by many research funders and publishers.
How to share your data
There are different ways to share your data, depending on the type, volume, and sensitivity of the data, and any other legal, ethical, or contractual requirements or restrictions to data sharing.
The term ‘sharing’ can be interpreted in different ways:
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Open or public sharing
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Controlled, safeguarded or restricted sharing beyond the research team
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Sharing only amongst members of the research team (which may include external collaborators)
When we talk about ‘sharing’ research data here, we mean making it accessible to and usable by other people beyond your immediate research team. ‘Other people’ could mean other researchers in your discipline; people involved in research in different disciplines; or people outside of academia.
You should consider where, how, and to whom your data will be made available. If you cannot share all of your data, you should consider whether parts of it, or supporting documentation and metadata, can be shared, to make your research as transparent and open as possible.
Most research data can be shared using a combination of informed consent, anonymisation and controlling access to data. Therefore, it is important to think about how you might share your data when you are writing your data management plan, as this can help you consider any potential restrictions which could be overcome before you begin data collection.
Open data repositories
For data that can be made publicly available without restrictions:
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Deposit and publish your data via a repository which allows others to access and reuse your data, usually under an open licence eg. Figshare.
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Easily link your publications to your data via a data repository
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Prevent the need for other researchers having to contact you to access your data
Controlled environment
For data that cannot be made publicly available due to confidentiality concerns, licensing or use agreements:
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Deposit your data in a repository with controlled access or preserve it within a secure network (sometimes known as a data enclave) through which data can be stored and disseminated.
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Data should be findable via a metadata record in a repository or data registry, which provides details of how to access it, sometimes through a registration process
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The UK Data Service offers controlled access to data via its repository
Direct requests to share data
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A direction to contact the author for access to data is not best practice and is not normally considered acceptable by funders and publishers which require data to be shared
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If you only intend to share your data with individuals via direct requests, you will need to consider how others can find out that the data exists, for example, by creating a metadata record in a repository
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Data should be transferred securely to external users
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You should ensure that data are maintained for an appropriate period after the research project in suitable accessible formats
Sharing data as supplementary information
We do not recommend using supplementary information attached to journal articles for sharing data; rather we recommend sharing data via a suitable repository, as repositories are better suited to ensure long-term preservation and access to the data. Data repositories also enable your data to be cited as a distinct research output to your paper.
If you are going to share data as supplementary information, the following steps will help your data to be understood and used by others:
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Check that the journal you are submitting to accepts data in an appropriate file format and file size for your data;
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Check whether you can also submit relevant documentation or metadata files alongside your data.
More information
For further information, please see the following resources: