Data management and sharing plan guide

Sharing data

This page covers the basic best practices for data sharing. When sharing data you should aim to:

1. Share as much data as possible in its rawest usable form.
2. Use open, non-proprietary formats.
3. Provide comprehensive documentation and metadata.
4. Use a data repository that assigns a persistent identifier like a DOI.

Locate a data repository 

There are thousands of data repositories available worldwide. Finding one to fit your data doesn't have to be hard. 

1. Check if your funding agency requires or recommends specific data repositories.
   For example, USDA funded research data can be deposited in the USDA's Ag Data Commons. 
2. Use disciplinary data repositories special built for your data whenever possible.
   For example, PANGAEA specializes in georeference data for earth system research and ICPSR specializes in social science data. 
3. Check if your institution has a data repository. 
   For example, Iowa State University has DataShare to support research at Iowa State. 
4. Search for a data repository or database that matches your research focus. 
   FairSharing and Re3Data are data repository search services. 
5. Check with a librarian. They can help you locate a services that fits your data. 
   Researchers at Iowa State can email datashare@iastate.edu for help.

Prepare your data set

After you've located a data repository you need to prepare your data set for sharing. The data files need to be organized and consistent but most importantly documentation explaining the data needs to prepared. 

1. Check the requirements of the data repository
2. Organize your data set logically and consistently 
3. Document your data set by creating a readme file that explains
   • How and when the data was made or collected
   • How its organized and how files relate to each other
   • Who made the data and how to cite the dataset
4. Prepare a codebook or data dictionary that explains what variables within the data mean.
5. Start the submission process with the data repository! 

Write a data paper (optional)

Data papers are a type of peer-reviewed scholarly publication that documents a data set rather than the results of research. They can be used to make data easier to locate, cite, and reuse while adding a peer-reviewed publication to your resume. Publishing a data paper typically requires sharing and preserving the supporting data in a data repository.