Checklist for deposit
How do you know if you're ready to share your data? What do you need to think about in advance of depositing?
Before you deposit in Edinburgh DataShare you need to prepare and organise your material, and decide on a number of things. This checklist should help you preparing your deposit, thinking about and collecting information for your metadata, and deciding under which license you want to publish your data in the repository.
Step 1 - Set up your profile
Have you registered?
Have you been assigned to a community?
Have you been assigned to a collection?
Register on Edinburgh DataShare with your EASE login or EASE Friend login, and wait for a confirmation email.
Reply to the confirmation email indicating your research Community and the name of the Collection you want to deposit in. Indicate the names of all those who should have deposit rights (including yourself) and provide a short description.
Step 2 - Group your files into datasets (items)
Are you depositing an individual dataset or item?
Are you depositing multiple datasets or items?
Think about the granularity of your data and the dependent ancillary files which compose your data.
Decide on how to structure your data. In some cases your research data will be composed of different files that belong to one single dataset, but in other cases your data might need to be segregated across a number of datasets.
Step 3 - Prepare your data
Have you structured and labelled your data in a consistent manner?
Which format(s) will you deposit to help ensure the broadest accessibility by others now and in the future?
Are there any discipline specific data formats? Does DataShare specifically support those format(s)?
Have your data been created, edited or compressed with specific software(s)?
Ensure your files are labelled as explicitly as possible, to facilitate peers to easily access your data.
Your file(s) should be future-proof and if possible not dependent on proprietary software formats. We recommend:.csv, .txt, .xml, .tiff, .mp4, especially. You might want to deposit more than one format of the same item.
Note any processes by which the data have been transformed, which version of the software created the resulting item(s). If possible include which compression, codec and bit rate was used. This can be entered in the "Description field" of the metadata you will enter.
Step 4 - Prepare your documentation
Have you prepared documentation files for your dataset(s)?
Have you spelled out acronyms and explained the labels of your variables and values?
Have you included research methodology reports and any other relevant information?
This documentation should give adequate information about what data is included and how it’s structured. We recommend you include a “readme.txt” file with your dataset and collection.
Step 5 - Permissions and rights
Do you have all the rights to make the data available?
Have you received permission from all other right-holders?
Do you have data citations ready for any underlying "source" data (such as base maps)?
Have you sufficiently anonymised your data, or obtained explicit consent from any data subjects whose identity could be revealed from the data (including images)?
You can prove that you have all the rights to deposit your data in DataShare, and are aware that if the repository receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item(s) will be removed immediately.
You have been given permission by all right-holders (data collectors, performers, people documented in audio-visual form) to make the data available on DataShare, and that all right-holders agree on the specific licence given to the data.
Step 6 - Decide on the licence
Do you know the policies (metadata, content, preservation) by which the repository publishes your data and metadata?
Do you require more information on licencing policies?
Edinburgh DataShare is an open repository registered with the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR).
Do you know under which licence you want to publish your research data?
Do all your data need to be released under the same licence?
Have you read the depositors agreement for using DataShare?
You are familiar with the three licencing options offered by DataShare. ‘ODC Attribution’ and ‘Open Data Commons’ Public Dedication and Domain licence are both open data licences supplied by DataShare. ODC Attribution is recommended. You could choose your own form of words in the Rights statement instead. Just choose the ‘No Licence’ option at the beginning of your deposit process.
You are aware of the rights you are giving to the repository service through the depositor agreement and their policies regarding retention, file migration and withdrawal of items.
Step 7 - Decide if an embargo is needed
Does your data item require an embargo period before it is made open access?
Depending on your research project and agreement with the funding body, this option might be required. You can keep your data stored in the repository for a period of time before you make it openly available.
The advantage of using the embargo is that the metadata and documentation are prepared at the time of deposit, when the research is still fresh on your mind, instead of at a later date when you might have forgotten the details.
This article was published on Jan 21, 2013