Data Management Old: Data Sharing

Many scholars will need to share their data publicly as a condition of grant funding or publication.  However, researchers are always encouraged to share their data; publicly available research data can help increase the visibility of projects and speed up the dissemination of discoveries among research communities.   

Data can be shared through direct, researcher-to-researcher contact; by hosting it on your personal website; or by submitting to a data repository.  Many grants will encourage researchers to share their data via a repository.  See the guide below for an overview of the issues involved in sharing data.  

Federal Data Management and Public Access Policies

Find Data to Use

• Data Sources and Services
• Health Statistics

Some projects may work with sensitive data, particularly those using human research subjects.  Therefore, it is important for researchers to consider where their data may raise security or privacy concerns.  

• Protected Health Information as defined by HIPAA
• US Dept. of Health and Human Services Guide to De-Identifying Data

If you are sharing your data via a repository, that venue will likely have established its own policies on the distribution and re-use of data.  Most are very permissive; other researchers will be able to use your data for their own projects.  

If you are not submitting your data to a repository, consider attaching a Creative Commons License to it.  This license will allow others the right to use data you have compiled free of charge, while ensuring that you receive credit as a creator.  Use the Creative Commons selection tool to choose a license that will suit your needs for your data.  Attach the license's legal code to your data documentation, or paste machine-readable code to your website.  

Sharing certain types of research data, particularly those which concern human subjects, may be restricted or controlled by law.  It is important to understand what legislation may affect your data before you take steps to share it.  The guide to Data Laws and Policies can help you start to determine whether or not your data may be restricted or protected, and the guide below offers tips on protecting your research subjects' privacy.  

Use our Repository Quick Guide to navigate different directories of specialized repositories, such as re3data, as well as repositories accepting a broad range of data from all academic disciplines.