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Archiving for reuse

The following information deals with sharing data at publication or after completion of a research project, for a broad public. Of course, you may want to share your data during research already, for instance when collaborating with co-researchers. This often does not concern sharing with a broad public. For more information on sharing data during research, you may check the following webpage.

This page provides information about:

Radboud University: sharing your research data

The RDM policy states that research data generated at Radboud University are stored, managed and made accessible in accordance with legal, academic, and ethical requirements and the requirements of financial providers.

So, the standard at Radboud University is to share research data (make them accessible) at the moment of publication. However, there are good reasons not to share research data.

When not to share your data?

  • Your research data include personal data which can or may not be anonymized. Personal data can only be shared publicly if informed consent for data sharing has been given or when data is anonymized.
  • Your research data are confidential due to arrangements made with for example a third (commercial) party sponsoring your research or because of the confidential nature of the data.
  • You intend to make a patent application and want to avoid prior disclosure. Your data is already publicly available and/or you legally do not own the data, and as a consequence, you do not need to and/or cannot share you data (again) publicly.
  • Always be aware with research data that might harm other research(ers). Avoid bad publicity and pillorying other research(ers). These might be reasons not to share your data and/or choosing a restricted access level. In addition, be careful when publishing data which doesn’t contain any documentation since data without documentation can easily be misinterpreted.

Alternatives to direct and open access sharing

  • A solution is to share data via an archive that allows the data to be embargoed for a fixed period of time after deposit. This means that the metadata for the data will be available (allowing it to be cited in related publications), but the data itself will not be made publicly accessible until the embargo has expired. This is possible in the Radboud Data Repository, for instance.
  • Sharing your research data is not the same as publishing data open access. Research data can also be shared with a restricted access. This means that the data are accessible to potential re-users only once the researcher grants access.

Which data should be archived and which archives can be used?

On the following webpage you find information on what data and documentation you should store at a minimum for the long term from the perspective of reuse of data.

There are various options to make your data available for reuse for a broad public:

  • Radboud University researchers can use the Radboud Data Repository (RDR) to archive their data. You can find out whether the RDR is already available for your research institute here.
  • The Donders Repository is available for researchers from the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour.
  • Re3data.org offers a good overview of data archives all over the world and covering all disciplines. 
    Note: Data archived in a data repository other than the Radboud Data Repository or Donders Repository should be registered in the university's RIS interface to make the dataset visible on your profile page and in Radboud University's and your faculty's research reports.
  • In some cases, it is possible to archive both your publication and data at a journal.
    Note    : Make sure that you do not hand over any author rights belonging to your data, as might be the case with supplemental data at a journal.

Standards and guidelines

  • Archiving repositories differ in the standards and guidelines they offer. Make sure you check them before choosing an archive other than the Radboud Data Repository or the Donders Repository.
  • There are various levels of access to data (and corresponding roles), depending on the archive. For example, restricted access usually allows you to manage access to the data yourself. Restricted access to data is accepted by most funders as a way to share your data after research, as an alternative to open access.
  • Additionally, various licenses and data use agreements are available to manage access to data.
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