Repository for Data
A data repository for scientific data is an online platform or service that allows storing, managing, and sharing research data, either for a fee or sometimes for free. These repositories are designed to facilitate the storage, discovery, and access to scientific data, providing benefits to the scientific community.
For the UCT Prague, we have the UCT Prague Zenodo Community available. It is a community within the general Zenodo repository where any type of data can be easily published. Zenodo is also integrated with both ORCID and the versioning system GitHub.
It is important to realize that there are many data repositories for scientific data. Each repository may have its own specific features and policies, so it is advisable to choose a repository that best suits the needs of a particular research project.
General recommendations for selecting a data repository include:
- Specialized repository by field or domain
- Institutional repository
- General repository (e.g., Zenodo)
Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the repository in terms of the established Data Management Plan, requirements from grant providers, and the specifications of selected journals for publications.
Advantages of using data repositories
- Accessibility: Data repositories provide a centralized and organized platform for storing and accessing research data. This enhances the visibility and accessibility of the data to the wider research community.
- Data Preservation: Repositories offer a secure and stable environment for long-term data preservation. This ensures that research data remains available for future use, replication, and validation.
- Citation and Attribution: Data deposited in repositories typically receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or a unique identifier, making it easier to cite and attribute the data in publications. This contributes to a proper acknowledgment of data contributors.
- Compliance with Policies: Many funding agencies and publishers require researchers to share their data openly. Using reputable data repositories helps researchers comply with these policies, ensuring transparency and reproducibility in research.
- Interoperability: Repositories often follow standardized formats and metadata protocols, promoting interoperability. This facilitates the integration of datasets from different sources and disciplines.
- Collaboration: Repositories provide a collaborative space where researchers can share and collaborate on datasets. This encourages knowledge exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Version Control: Some repositories, especially those linked to version control systems like GitHub, allow researchers to track changes in datasets over time. This ensures transparency and helps in understanding the evolution of the data.
- Integration with Other Tools: Many repositories integrate with other research tools, such as ORCID, GitHub, and scholarly communication platforms. This streamlines the research workflow and enhances the overall research ecosystem.
- Security and Backup: Data repositories implement security measures and backup systems to safeguard against data loss. Researchers can be confident that their data is stored in a secure and reliable environment.
- Recognition and Impact: Depositing data in reputable repositories can contribute to increased visibility and impact for researchers. Properly documented and shared datasets can be cited, referenced, and reused by other researchers, leading to greater recognition of the original work.
Using data repositories brings numerous benefits to researchers, fostering a culture of open science and contributing to the advancement of knowledge in various fields.
Publishing Data: When, Why, and Where
After completing the research, the publisher or funding provider may request you to publish the final version of your data. This could be for the purpose of verifying the results in your article or enabling reuse by other researchers who wish to build upon your findings.
Meeting the requirements of journals and sponsors
- Supporting new discoveries and transparency, contributing to scientific records
- Long-term data preservation (even with financial costs)
- Increasing the impact of your work on research.
Meeting the requirements of suitable data storage
- Publisher's requirements
- Community conventions
- Institutional policy
- Type of data you publish
- File format and size
- Their potential for reuse and reuse conditions, such as licensing
- Data versioning
- Data storage location
- Data sensitivity
- Access conditions
An appropriate tool for selecting data is, for example, the registry Re3Data.org, but it is always advisable to check whether the selected repository's conditions have changed.
Choosing a License
When selecting a license that regulates the options and rights for handling data, consider the following:
- Determine the level of openness: Decide whether you want to allow free sharing and use (open licenses) or restrict usage (restrictive licenses).
- Familiarize yourself with Creative Commons licenses: Choose from various licenses such as CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-ND, offering different levels of freedom and restrictions.
- Possible combination of licenses: You can use different licenses for different parts of the content, for example, text with CC BY and images with CC BY-NC.
- Possible restrictions: Study the grant's Data Management Plan (DMP) in detail, or the terms of the provider, and find out what is allowed and what is restricted.
- Provide license information: Clearly indicate which type of license you have chosen and what it means for other users.
- Think about the future: Keep in mind that changing the license in the future may be challenging, so carefully consider your decision.