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Research data can be shared or disseminated in different ways. This often happens informally between colleagues or research partners. If research data is available via data repositories, others can find, reuse and cite the data.

If data contains personal information, and particularly sensitive data, this may affect possibilities to make it accessible.

Remember that documentation should be as extensive as possible to facilitate assessment and reuse of data. File formats must also be considered. If possible, specific software should not be needed to read the data, because the software may become unavailable in the future. Version tracking is also important if different versions of the data are made available.

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ASPECTS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A DATA REPOSITORYÌý

Consider your aim with making your data accessible, i.e. who the target groups are and whether there are any directives regulating how and where data can be made accessible:

• Are there any specific requirements from a funder or journal?
• Do you have agreements with research partners that regulate your options?
• Does the data repository use standard Creative Commons licences, so that others know how the data may be used?

There are different types of repositories providing access to research data; some are general and others disciplinary. Some also offer DOIs (Data Objective Identifiers) so that the data can be followed and cited. Some examples include:

The Swedish National Data ServiceÌýoffers an archive for making research data accessible in the social sciences, humanities, medicine and health sciences. This archive only includes metadata.

Ìýis funded by the EU and managed by CERN.

Ìýis run by a British academic publishing house.

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