Slides for a webinar delivered to Open University researchers on 11th February 2019

1. Data Sharing:
How, what and why?
11th February 2019
Dan Crane, Research Support Librarian
library-research-support@open.ac.uk

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http://www.open.ac.uk/library-research-support/

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WHAT WE’LL COVER
• What do we mean by ‘data sharing’
• Data sharing policies
• Benefits of data sharing
• Data repositories
• Preparing data for sharing
• Questions/further information

4. WHAT IS DATA
SHARING?

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DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
What is data sharing?
“Data Sharing” and “Open Data”
Question 5 - Have you ever used data
produced by another researcher? 53
60
Yes
No
Question 5a - Where did you
get it from?
5
11
18
21
24
Other - It had been published online in some form
Other - direct contact or collaboration
I found it in a repository
There was a link in a paper or other publication
I contacted the researcher to ask for it
Results from OU Research Data Management Survey Sep-Oct 2018

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DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
What is data sharing?
• Supporting publication or end of project
• In a trusted repository
• With metadata
• As open as possible​
• Available for 10 years​
• Discoverable, accessible, citeable
• With a licence
• Data access statement in publications

7. DATA SHARING
POLICIES

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Funder policies
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Since 2017, all Horizon 2020 projects are part of the Open
Research Data Pilot by default
All publications after May 2015 should have a statement
describing how to access underlying data. EPSRC have
said they will check.
Researchers now required to prepare to share data and
other outputs of their work, such as original software and
research materials like antibodies, cell lines or
reagents.
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
Funder policies

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Publisher policies
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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OU policy
“In keeping with OU principles of openness, it is
expected that research data will be open and
accessible to other researchers, as soon as
appropriate and verifiable, subject to the
application of appropriate safeguards relating to the
sensitivity of the data and legal and commercial
requirements.”
OU Research Data Management Policy, November 2016
http://www.open.ac.uk/library-research-support/sites/www.open.ac.uk.library-research-
support/files/files/Open-University-Research-Data-Management-Policy.pdf
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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A shared aim
Concordat on Open Research Data
https://www.ukri.org/files/legacy/documents/concordatonopenresearchdata-pdf/
“Good data management is
fundamental to all stages of the
research process and should be
established at the outset.”
“Open access to research data is an
enabler of high quality research, a
facilitator of innovation and
safeguards good research practice.”
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

13. BENEFITS

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innovation - moving
science forward
transparency
higher citation, better
recognition
impact
collaborations
public money better
spent
efficiency - saves time,
effort, money
better data management
cultural change
Benefits and motivations
meet funder requirements
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Benefits and motivations
• Re-use efficiency of cost and effort, furthering research
• Publishing what didn’t work – so others don’t repeat
the experiment
• Others better understand your work
• Others validate or replicate your work
• For the author - further reach and impact. Another
research output
• Rigour in working and preparing for someone else to
see your workings
• “The coolest thing to do with your data will be thought
of by someone else.” Rufus Pollock, Cambridge University and Open Knowledge Foundation, 2008
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Innovation
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Research integrity
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Impact, citations
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Why not? Exemptions
“As open as possible, as closed as necessary”
It is recognised that access may need to be restricted or managed in
order to:
• maintain confidentiality
• guard against unreasonable cost
• protect individuals’ privacy
• respect consent terms
• managing security or other risks.
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?

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Data repositories
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
Open Research Data Online
(ORDO)
Online data sharing services
• Figshare
• Zenodo
• CKAN DataHub
• Mendeley Data
Funders’ repository services
• UK Data Service ReShare
• NERC data centres

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Data repositories – Open Research Data Online
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
• ORDO - our own research data repository
https://ordo.open.ac.uk/
• It provides secure, long-term storage for data and makes it
shareable, discoverable and citable
• Meets funder requirements and ‘industry standard’

22. PREPARING DATA FOR
SHARING

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Preparing data for sharing
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
• supporting publications
• at the end of a project
• supporting presentations, blogs, etc.
• archive at project stages

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Preparing data for sharing
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
• Raw data
• Derived data
• Data underpinning
publications
• Code
• Methods
What are research data in your context?
What would others need to understand your research?

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Preparing data for sharing
PREPARING DATA FOR SHARING
“...make sure that data are fully described, so
that consumers have sufficient information to
understand their strengths, weaknesses,
analytical limitations, and security
requirements as well as how to process the
data...”
G8 Open Data Charter (2013)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-data-charter/g8-
open-data-charter-and-technical-annex
Metadata and documentation

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PREPARING DATA FOR SHARING
What do others need to understand your data?
Metadata is additional information that is required to make
sense of your files – it’s data about data.
Preparing data for sharing
Project level
1. For what purpose was data created
2. What does the dataset contain
3. How was data collected
4. Who collected the data and when
5. How was the data processed
6. What possible manipulations were
done to the data
7. What were the quality assurance
procedures
8. How can data be accessed
CESSDA ERIC: https://www.cessda.eu/Research-Infrastructure/Training/Expert-Tour-Guide-on-Data-Management
Supporting documentation
• Working papers or laboratory
books
• Questionnaires or interview
guides
• Final project reports and
publications
• Catalogue metadata
• READ ME file

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PREPARING DATA FOR SHARING
What do others need to understand your data?
Embedded documentation
• code, field and label
descriptions
• descriptive headers or
summaries
• recording information in the
Document Properties function
of a file (Microsoft)
Metadata is additional information that is required to make
sense of your files – it’s data about data.
Preparing data for sharing
Object level
CESSDA ERIC: https://www.cessda.eu/Research-Infrastructure/Training/Expert-Tour-Guide-on-Data-Management

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DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
Preparing data for sharing
FAIR data
https://www.force11.org/group/fairgroup/fairprinciples
https://www.go-fair.org/
https://twitter.com/MDDelahunty/status/1065043013150347265

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Preparing data for sharing – telling people about it
DATA SHARING: HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
Data Access Statement
Content adapted from University of Bath, “Archiving and sharing data: Data access statements”
• Used in publications to describe where the data directly underpinning the publication can be
found and conditions of access
• Some journals provide a separate section in papers, or put it in the acknowledgements
section
• For openly available data
• The name(s) of the repositories / archives that the dataset(s) managing the dataset(s);
• The persistent identifier for your dataset.
• Data subject to access restrictions
• Justification for the data being subject to access restrictions (for example, ethical, legal
or commercial sensitivity);
• Information on arrangements for accessing the data, including the persistent identifier to
the dataset, or a statement that the data are not accessible
• E.g.
From: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03069400.2017.1369793

30. QUESTIONS & USEFUL
RESOURCES

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QUESTIONS & USEFUL RESOURCES
QUESTIONS?

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How we can help
QUESTIONS & USEFUL RESOURCES
• Open Research Data Online (ORDO)
• Help with Data Management Plans and consent forms
• Advice on preparation of data for sharing
• Online guidance
• Enquiries
Email: library-research-support@open.ac.uk

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Links
USEFUL RESOURCES
• The OU Library Research Support website: http://www.open.ac.uk/library-
research-support/research-data-management
• Open Research Data Online (ORDO): https://ordo.open.ac.uk
• Digital Curation Centre: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
• DMP Online: https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
• UK Data Archive: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/
• MANTRA: http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/
• CESSDA ERIC training: https://www.cessda.eu/Research-
Infrastructure/Training/Expert-Tour-Guide-on-Data-Management
• OU Human Research Ethics
Committee: http://www.open.ac.uk/research/ethics/
• OU Data Protection: http://intranet6.open.ac.uk/governance/data-
protection/advice-and-resources (if clicking on the link doesn’t work, copy
and paste the address)
• OU Information Security: http://intranet6.open.ac.uk/it/main/information-
security (if clicking on the link doesn’t work, copy and paste the address)

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FEEDBACK
How did we do?
Before you go, please fill out our very short feedback form to
tell us:
• One thing you liked about today's session
• One thing you would change
Use the paper form, or online form at: https://bit.ly/2EZu0K6

35. THANK YOU

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IMAGE CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated, all images are by
Jørgen Stamp at http://www.digitalbevaring.dk