Sharing and preserving data in repositories
ThemesSharing and preserving data in repositories
What is this about?
Data repositories are “large database infrastructures” that collect, manage, and store data sets. They are also known as data libraries or data archives.[1] Depositing data into digital repositories is beneficial for all stakeholders in research as researchers share them, make them visible, safe, preserved, and ready for future use.
- ↑ Brook C. What is a Data Repository? Digital Guardian. 2018 Dec 5. [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://digitalguardian.com/blog/what-data-repository.
Why is this important?
Not storing data properly and disregarding safeguards can lead to losing important research data. This does not occur rarely. A study carried out on 516 articles published from 1991 to 2011 has revealed that availability of research data in biology decreases about 17% per year.[1] Various reasons can lead to unavailability of research data, whether researchers change their contact information and are not reachable anymore or they use outdated technology, such as floppy disks, to store their data.[2] Apart from that, even when researchers are able to access their data, they often lose hours and hours searching for them in their computer files.[3] Therefore, depositing data into repositories can save a considerable amount of time. There are several benefits for researchers who deposit their data into repositories:
-data is clustered together which enables easier and faster analysis and reporting
-potential problems are detected easier because repositories are categorised
-data is preserved and archived.[4]
Overall, such practice promotes transparency in research and reduce misconduct.[5] However, data repositories also have some downsides. For example, there is a possibility of a system crash that could affect the stored data, so it is important always to back up datasets.[4]
- ↑ Vines T H, Albert A Y K, Andrew R L, Moore J S, Renaut S, Rennison D J. The Availability of Research Data Declines Rapidly with Article Age. Curr Biol. 2014;24(1):94-97.
- ↑ Wiener-Bronner D. Most Scientific Research Data From the 1990s Is Lost Forever. The Atlantic. 2013 Dec 23. [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/scientific-data-lost-forever/356422/.
- ↑ Briney K A, Coates H, Goben A. Foundational Practices of Research Data Management. Research Ideas and Outcomes. 2020; 6:e56508.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brook C. What is a Data Repository? Digital Guardian. 2018 Dec 5. [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://digitalguardian.com/blog/what-data-repository.
- ↑ Manneheimer A, Pienta A, Kirilova D, Elman C, Wutich A. Qualitative Data Sharing: Data Repositories and Academic Libraries as Kex Partners in Addressing Challenges. Am. Behav. Sci. 2019;63(5):643-664.
For whom is this important?
What are the best practices?
Some journals, such as Nature, require depositing data to data repositories as part of the manuscript submission process. This is one of the prerequisites for publication.[1] Nature has set out certain criteria for data repositories. They should:
-provide long-term preservation of data (at least 5 years after publication)
-be supported by a research community or institution
-provide deposited datasets with stable and persistent identifiers
-allow open access
-provide terms of data use
-facilitate for anonymous reviewers to access data under embargo.[1]
The journal also offers a list of repositories across research areas for researchers who are not certain where to deposit their data:
-Chemistry and Chemical biology
-Earth, Environmental and Space sciences
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Data Repository Guidance. Scientific data. Nature. [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://www.nature.com/sdata/policies/repositories#toc.
Andrijana Perković Paloš contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Oct 19, 2021
