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RDM Wise Practices Guidelines

Data Repositories

Depositing research data in a reputable data repository is the most stable and widely acceptable option to preserve and share your data. Most Canadian research funding agencies are beginning to adopt policies requiring the deposit of research data in a data repository and shared upon publication of the research results or within a reasonable period. Journal publishers, too, may require that data associated with a published journal article be made available in a data repository.

Benefits for the researcher Benefits for the institution
  • Makes data Findable, Accessible, Inter-operable, and allows for Reuse as appropriate (i.e., FAIR principles) 
  • Enables you to meet funding/publisher requirements.  
  • Improves discovery and reuse of your data.
  • Improves citation/attribution.
  • A way to manage your research/enhance your academic profile.
  • Ensures long-term access and preservation of all institutional/researcher data.
  • Provides another way to track academic output.
  • Persistent identifiers can lead back to the institutions - a good way to showcase research.

While data sharing contributes to the visibility and impact of research, it must be balanced with the legitimate desire of researchers to maximize their research outputs before releasing their data. Equally important is the need to protect the privacy of respondents and to properly handle sensitive data.

Key Considerations

Practicing good research data management does not mean all data must be preserved and shared. There are often common circumstances to restrict data preservation and sharing. These can include:

  • Ethical considerations (e.g., out of scope of Informed Consent) 
  • Period of exclusivity for data creators (e.g., data embargo) 
  • Commercial constraints (e.g., non-disclosure agreement (NDA), IP ownership belonging with an external partner as per funding guidelines and/or as outlined in the research agreement) 
  • Sensitive content (e.g., identifiable information) 
  • Data security (e.g. funders may require considerations for research in sensitive areas or with foreign institutions and partners.

A good maxim to remember is: Share whenever possible. Restrict when required or necessary.

Use the Informed Consent Form provided by the Sheridan Research Ethics Board (SREB) to obtain consent to share sensitive data. Learn more about informed consent from the Sensitive Data Toolkit for Researchers, by the Portage Network. 

Methods to protect sensitive data include:

  • De-identify the dataset: remove, replace, or redact all identifiable & quasi-identifiable data from datasets prior to uploading in an open repository.
  • Share the data through closed access portals with restricted access mechanisms and Data Sharing/Transfer Agreements. Examples of this kind of web portal/database include ICES and CIHI.

Begin selecting a data repository as early as possible. This will give you enough time to understand the requirements of a particular repository, including file formats, metadata standards, and any other documentation. Understanding those requirements might impact how you collect, document, and manage your data through the active research phases. To select an appropriate repository, first consider publisher, funder, disciplinary, or institutional requirements.

  1. Is there a particular repository designated by your publisher or research funder?
  2. Is there a domain-specific repository supported by your discipline?
  3. Does your institution provide a data repository service?

Consider additional criteria, such as the ability to assign permanent identifiers to datasets (e.g. DOI) to enhance discoverability, accessibility and cite-ability. A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier is used to uniquely identify an article or document and provide it with a permanent web address (URL).

Browse the list of recommended repositories below. Contact Library & Learning Services or The Generator for support, if needed.

A license defines what others may or may not do with your data. You may choose to assign a broad license that allows anyone to do whatever they like with your data, or you may assign a narrower license that restricts use to strictly non-commercial activities and requires attribution to the data creator each time it is used. 

The two primary sources for data licenses are Creative Commons (CC) and Open Data Commons. Open Data Commons (ODC) offers three license options that were created specifically for data/databases. 

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