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Research Data Management

Data Repositories

Depending on specific funder / journal requirements you may find that you are obligated to deposit your datasets to a publicly accessible data repository at the time of publication. Make sure to review any such requirements at the beginning of your research project to ensure that you are able to comply with them in a timely manner. 

 

Features & Functions

 

If your funder / journal doesn't specify a repository for you to use you'll have to choose one yourself.  Some features and functionality to consider carefully include:

 

  • Does the repository have the relevant disciplinary focus for your project?  Or would a a multi-disciplinary repository make more sense for your circumstances?
     
  • Do you own/control/retain copyright over your data?
     
  • Does the service provide a persistent identifier (PID) for your dataset(s), such as a DOI, or Persistent URL (PURL)?
     
  • Does it permit you to embargo or in some other way restrict access to your data / metadata if needed?
     
  • Does it guarantee permanent data deletion/removal from the repository if necessary?
     
  • Is the repository transparent about its backup practices?
     
  • Are the servers distributed in multiple geographic locations?
     
  • Does its long-term data retention policy match your needs?
     
  • Does the repository's storage limit match your requirements?  Can you purchase extra storage as needed?
     
  • What are accepted file types and there any documentation requirements?
     
  • Are there any costs/fees for uploading and long-term archiving of your data?

 

Canada's National Repositories

For the most part these are open access, but some datasets deposited in these repositories may have some form of access restriction.  Most will have been made available for re-use by means of a Creative Commons or similar licence.
 

  • Access restrictions may include time-embargoes or a limit to a specific types of user such as academic researchers, and/or limit to researchers who've received ethics approvals for their research.
     
  • Licence restrictions typically relate to citation requirements, derivative uses and/or whether commercial uses are permitted.

 

FRDR

 

The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) is a multidisciplinary, bilingual data repository that is freely available to researchers working at any Canadian institution eligible for funding from the Tri-Agencies - which includes Douglas College. 

 

What you need to know about FRDR:
 

  • It's optimized for large datasets, from 5GB to 1 TB and the first TB of storage is free; additional storage requests are considered on a case by case basis.
     
    • Note, smaller datasets are accepted, using a standard file upload process within your web browser
       
  • Only the PI at an eligible Canadian institution may download a dataset - however, anyone may browse / upload its publicly available data, using its Lunaris search interface.
     
  • FRDR does not accept private/sensitive data - all data about human participants must be:
     
    • anonymized
    • accompanied by a copy of your REB approval
    • and accompanied by a blank copy of the consent form that was provided to your participants - which must have included information about your intention to deposit their anonymized data.
       
  • FRDR is an open access repository and does not permit extended embargo periods.
     
  • FRDR has staff dedicated to assisting individual researchers with the deposit process - including data review/curatio and alll uploaded datasets are assigned a DOI once your data have been reviewed & approved by FRDR staff.
     
  • FRDR guarantees secure storage for a minimum of 10 years.
     
  • For more detailed information about FRDR see its FAQs.

 

Borealis

 

Borealis is a bilingual, multidisciplinary, secure, Canadian research data repository, supported by academic libraries and research institutions across Canada.

 

What you need to know about Borealis:

 

  • Borealis datasets are stored on Canadian servers at the University of Toronto Libraries.
     
  • Anyone who would like to download their research data to Borealis must have an account - and accounts are restricted to researchers affiliated with a participating institution.
     
    • Anyone can search, browse or download unrestricted data without needing an account, by using Lunaris, Canada’s national research data discovery service, and/or Google Dataset Search.
       
  • Borealis does not accept private or sensitive data.
     
  • Permits longer (up to indefinite) embargo periods - giving you a choice to "share your data openly or apply granular file-level permissions."
     
  • Every dataset is automatically assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Finding International / Subject-based Repositories

Curated Registries: International Repositories & Repository Registries

 

Canadian researchers are not obligated to deposit their research data in one of the Canadian national repositories.  Depending on the context, it may be more appropriate to deposit in a discipline-specific repository.   The following are great resources to check out.