Increasingly, research data are coming to be seen as research outputs in their own right with reuse value beyond the research project for which they were created or collected. Because of this many funders, journal publishers and academics now argue for the importance of data access and sharing.
The benefits of data sharing include:
- Prevention of data duplication
- Reducing the risk of data loss
- Greater scrutiny of published research
- New forms or collaborative research and data re-use
- Increased visibility of research data & associated publications
Data sharing will not prevent you from getting recognition for the data you create or from maximising its value for your research. While most funders expect researchers to make their data available in a "timely manner", they also allow researchers a period of exclusive use of their data prior to publication.
Furthermore, while most funders are keen for researchers to make their data as open and accessible as possible, they also acknowledge that not all data can be shared, and that sometimes it might be necessary to set conditions restricting how data can be accessed and by whom (see "Do I have to share my data?"below).
How should I publish my data?
Options for publishing your data include:
In a repository or data centre
Depositing your data in a data centre or repository increases the discoverability of your data as well as satisfying funder and journal publisher data policy requirements. Some repositories will also issue a DOI for your data making it easier to cite and link to related resources such as the published research that the data supports. Help with choosing a repository is available here, including information about the King's research data repository, KORDS.
If you publish your data with an external data centre or repository, send us the DOI or URL and we will create a record for the dataset in our forthcoming research data catalogue.
As supplementary materials attached to a journal
Sometimes it is possible to include supporting data as supplementary material accompanying published research (e.g. in the form of graphs or tables). However, there are likely to be restrictions on the types of materials which can be submitted (e.g. limitations on file size or acceptable file formats. See, for example, the guidance provided by the journal Science on preparing supplementary materials).
A growing number of journals now have data sharing policies which stipulate that data which supports published research should be made publicly available and/or that the published article should provide information about how and under what conditions the data which supports the paper's findings can be accessed. Most journal data sharing policies also specify that the data supporting published research papers be deposited in a data centre or repository.
Journals with data sharing policies include:
- Nature - authors are expected to make their supporting data publicly available at the point of publication, adding that the "preferred way to share large data sets is via public repositories".
- PLOS ONE - "All data and related metadata underlying the findings reported in a submitted manuscript should be deposited in an appropriate public repository, unless already provided as part of the submitted article."
- Science - "... appropriate data sets (including microarray data, protein or DNA sequences, atomic coordinates or electron microscopy maps for macromolecular structures, and climate data) must be deposited in an approved database."
A provisional list of journals with data sharing policies is available from the Open Access Directory.
Via a project, departmental, or personal web site
By itself this is unlikely to comply with funder expectations regarding long term preservation of data. Ideally you should deposit copies of the data in a data repository or data centre as well.
Allow access via email request
Again, this might not comply with funder mandates or enable long term preservation or data access. For example, the EPSRC, do not consider it sufficient to direct potential future users to a personal email address in your data access statement. Guidance on how to comply with the EPSRC's expectations and what to include in a data access statement is available on our webpage Meeting the EPSRC expectations.
When should I publish my data?
Most funders expect data to be made available no later than the publication of the research findings but will usually also allow researchers a period of exclusive use to enable them to benefit from the data they have generated. You should include details of any proposed embargo period in your data management plan. Details of funder timescales for publishing data can be found on our webpage Funder policies on data management and sharing.
Do I have to share my data?
Most publishers also recognise that there are occasions when data cannot be shared or when access to the data has to be restricted e.g. for reasons of confidentiality, commercial sensitivity or copyright and IPR. However, they also expect researchers to demonstrate that they have taken reasonable measures to make the data available, even if access is controlled or otherwise mediated. This could be done by making access to the data request only or via a data sharing agreement. For help with creating a data sharing agreement contact the Information Compliance team: email info-compliance@kcl.ac.uk.
You can also set terms and conditions governing reuse if you apply a license to your data.
Again, check your funder's policy for details of their data sharing guidelines.
Further guidance:
Additional guidance can be found on our webpages: License your data, Managing IPR and copyright, Ethics and confidentiality
See also Welcome Open Research: How to Publish - Data Guidelines