Describe, share, and preserve data
When a research project nears its end, research data need to be prepared for sharing and preservation. Making research data accessible to verify research results enhances transparency and reliability, which helps maintain high research quality. Increasingly, journals also require that the data underlying a research result are made accessible at the same time as a research article is published.
The reuse of research data may become relevant long after a research project has ended; for example, to reproduce results, use data for new analyses, or allow others to verify published findings. Even if there are no immediate plans for others to continue working with the research material, it is important both for your own sake and for potential reviewers to be able to revisit the different steps of the research process. This is particularly crucial in cases of allegations of scientific misconduct. You should also prepare the data for long-term preservation.
On these pages, you can find information about:
What should I share?
Publish sufficient data and documentation to make it possible to reuse and verify the results by reproducing the study’s data processing.
Where should I share data?
Where you share research data depends on your discipline. Choose a publication channel that ensures that data can be found and accessed.
Sharing research data means making data accessible to others. There are two key sets of guiding principles for sharing research data:
The FAIR principles – Data and metadata should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
As open as possible, as restricted as necessary – Not all data can or should be openly shared on the internet, but data can still be made visible to strengthen the research process.