Share My Data
Research councils providing public funds are starting to request researchers to make their data available to others.
Publishers are increasingly requiring authors to make available the data that support their results published in accepted articles.
Data sharing is a foundational norm in a number of research fields where scientists are expected to make their data available to other researchers.
Factors that make sharing data difficult
Parts of datasets involving human subjects or sensitive information, such as breeding grounds of endangered species, may not be shared if the data contain identifying information.
However, it may be possible to share other parts of the data that are not sensitive. Researchers could use these data under certain secure conditions, such as on-site a data facility like a Research Data Centre.
We can guide you through the process. Contact data@ualberta.ca
Metadata
The main purpose of metadata is to facilitate in the discovery of relevant information. If you want to share your data, you will need to document the context in which you collected or accessed your data; this documentation is part of the metadata
Metadata should follow defined standards in order to maximize its findability and usability. Common standards include:
- DDI: describes observational data in the social and behavioural sciences
- NAP: describes spatial data in North America coordinates
- EML: describes ecological data
The Digital Curation Centre additionally offers an extensive overview of a wide range of disciplinary specific metadata.
Need guidance? Contact data@ualberta.ca
Citation
DataCite recommends one of the following citation formats (examples below):
- Creator (PublicationYear): Title. Publisher. Identifier
- Creator (PublicationYear): Title. Version. Publisher. ResourceType. Identifier
- Example: Irino, T; Tada, R (2009): Chemical and mineral compositions of sediments from ODP Site 127‐797. Geological Institute,University of Tokyo.http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.726855
Please note: Dataverse will automatically generate a citation including the DOI.
Find a repository
An institutional data repository allows researchers to deposit, document, and share their research data. Library staff can advise on available repositories in your field: contact us at data@ualberta.ca.
Directories of repositories can be found at:
On campus, we support Dataverse, a cross-disciplinary data repository supporting online management and access to data, as well as the Education and Research Archive (ERA), a campus repository where small datasets can be archived (please contact data@ualberta.ca for help choosing between these two options).
Some journals and funders require you to deposit to a specific repository, for example:
Some Tips For Getting Credit For Sharing
Create a free account on ORCiD, ImpactStory and/or Google Scholar. Next, link your ORCiD to DOIs and other scholarly works such as presentations, research project websites, or white papers to reveal your full research impact on the web.
Questions, concerns, comments? Contact data@ualberta.ca