Guest post by James Houghton, Research Data Support Officer

It is always essential to protect the personal identity of participants or information that could jeopardise the safety of a building, an endangered species, or similar. Deleting data at the end of a project is often necessary to guarantee privacy and security. But this data is sometimes of immense value. The potential usefulness of data could be weighed against the likelihood of an accidental release and the risk of harm if an unintentional release did occur.

There are options for archiving data with access controls for researchers who feel strongly that their data should be preserved. Some repositories have built-in access controls that ensure sensitive data can only be accessed by specific persons who have undergone an application process. Only a few data repositories offer this feature and will still have a remit controlling what data they can accept. Here are some examples.

• ReShare (UK Data Service) – This site is a social data research repository created to share data for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded projects but is open for submissions from other sources!

• ICPSR, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research – The ICPSR provide scientific data management and curation services. They have more than 250,000 files of research files in the social and behavioural sciences!

• The European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) – The EGA offers service for permanent archiving and sharing of personally identifiable clinical data generated for biomedical research projects or in the context of research-focused healthcare systems

The UK Data Service, which runs the ReShare archive, provides functional on-data access control and explains how to implement it.

If you are concerned about storing the data live, even with access controls, consider storing the raw data offline. The existence of the data can be advertised online by creating an entry in a repository that announces the data’s presence and explains how to access it. The repository record will also assign a DOI to cite the dataset properly. Making sure the offline information is stored securely can be challenging, however. There needs to be a specific process to ensure the data is secure and accessible on request.

Dealing with the long-term archiving of sensitive data is complicated. The UCL Research Data Management Team can assist with this. Get in touch if you need support!

• Email: lib-researchsupport@ucl.ac.uk
• Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/open-science-research-support/research-data-management

We are very pleased to finally be able to announce that bookings are officially open for the UCL Open Science conference 2022!

The conference is taking place online across two days, and as a special trial run this year we have selected one session to be run as a hybrid event, which will be available online and in person on the UCL campus. If you want to attend the conference online, and the Citizen Science session in person you will need a ticket for both.

Tickets are free and open to everyone that is interested. Sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be shared on the blog and via social media after the event.

Download the programme

DAY 1 – 6th April –

Morning Session: 10.00 -12.30 ONLINE

What does Open Science mean to me?

Here at UCL, the phrase ‘Open Science’ routinely refers to the steps taken to open up the research process to the benefit of the wider research community and beyond. Consequently, members of the UCL community are being actively encouraged to embrace open science practices – and the cultural changes that inevitably follow. Plus, we are subsequently well placed to explore related potential opportunities including greater transparency of the research process, maximising research potential of existing resources and embedding a greater sense of trustworthiness and accountability to your research.

However, it seems the deeper we delve into the concept of Open Science, the more we seek to contextualise this phrase and question what it means to an individual’s working practices.

Kickstart your research with Open Data and Code

This session will look at some of the approaches you can take to go beyond simply sharing your data and code and instead making it Open and FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Assuming little prior knowledge, we will hear from researchers and research technology professionals about how they approach making research software open source, techniques for openness when dealing with computational research, the role that can be played by Electronic Lab Notebooks, and data repositories in the Open Science ecosystem

Afternoon Session: 1.30-3.30pm ONLINE & IN PERSON:

How does Citizen Science change us?

Recent research about the impact of citizen science projects tends to focus on how public ‘participation’ in scientific research enhances knowledge outcomes for projects, or enhances the scientific literacy of participating citizen scientists. The benefits to participating individuals and communities are often assumed, and very little literature examines the personal dilemmas and challenges that individuals negotiate, or how citizen science projects change the behaviour of policymakers.

We aim to explore these gaps by inviting different perspectives on the question “How does citizen science change us?” Discussions will examine how participation in citizen science projects impacts on the different individuals involved – the citizen scientists, academic researchers, community members, policymakers – and ask how impacts on individuals can translate into wider political, societal and organisational transformations

This session will be online using the same link as the main conference. If you want to join this session in person, please also register on Eventbrite.

DAY 2 – 7th April – ONLINE 10.00 -12.30

10.10-11.20 UKRI Town Hall

The new UKRI Open Access policy has dominated discussions of the future of Open Access in the last year. This session proposes to allow the audience free rein to openly discuss the new policy with key members of the team at UKRI. After a brief presentation of the policy and guidance as it stands, the audience will be invited to pose their questions in an open forum.

11.20-12.30 Open Science and the Global South

Open Access publishing has been broadly embraced as a solution to the issue of paywalls which are often barriers to accessing research articles and, therefore, barriers to research itself. Open Access publishing removes the cost for those that may wish to read an article, but the publication process must still be paid for. Finding sustainable ways of doing this is a challenge, especially for institutions based in the global south where budgets may be more limited.

The important thing to remember about data as you reach the end of a project is that while sharing your data openly can have some brilliant outcomes, for you as a researcher, but also for the development of your research area, sometimes it isn’t possible to be truly open. This doesn’t mean that there is nothing you can do.

The core principles you should consider when planning and managing your data are those of FAIR. These principles apply whether your data is being made open or not – FAIR and Open are not mutually exclusive.

• Your outputs should be Findable – this means they should be discoverable by the wider academic community and the public. If your outputs can be made open, this is a case of choosing an appropriate repository, but this still applies if your data cannot be shared. For example, if your data is commercially sensitive or cannot be fully anonymised, it should still be made known that the data exists so that interested parties can still find out about the project. They may approach you for further details or to collaborate.
• They should be Accessible – you should make sure that you, or the system you choose uses unique identifiers, high quality metadata and a clear use of language and access protocols. This goes for data you might want to share, which could be the whole dataset, a derived subset of the data, the data that underlies a specific publication or even just a record of the project as discussed above.
• They should be Interoperable – this means that any data structures or file types you use need to be able to be opened and used by others. This is an important consideration, as your data, code, annotations or any other file needs to be reusable into the future when the original programme you used may not be around anymore.
• Finally, they should be Reusable – enabling the repurposing of research outputs to maximise their potential. This means that file types need to be operational long after publication as discussed above, but also files need to be annotated in such a way that someone else can use it accurately to either reproduce or build upon your research. If data cannot be shared, you can still take action. If you have used commercial or clinical datasets, or personally identifiable data that needs to remain restricted, you can share how you processed the data to reach your published conclusions, or the code you used. This will enable researchers who access or collect the same data from different participants to reproduce your research, without access to the same exact data.

When combined, these four elements help lower barriers to research outputs and facilitate secondary researchers finding, understanding, reusing and repurposing your research to realise additional research opportunities and maximise existing resources, even if you can’t share the data in full.

Whatever happens to your data at the end of a project should have been in the plan from the beginning. You should be aware from the start how much of your data can be shared, and you will have thought about where and how you were going to share it. Of course, if you aren’t sure, there are teams that can help make these decisions, and a wide range of advice available, even about less common topics like finding data to form part of your project, how to negotiate a Material Transfer Agreement in order to use it, how to securely destroy sensitive data or even how to cite data appropriately, just to name a few!

With this post we bring our Love Data Week full circle, back to the teams that can support you, and the importance of a good plan. Thank you for joining our activities this week, we hope you enjoyed it.

At UCL there is a recognition that there is more to publishing research than simply books and papers in print and PDF format.

One of the ways this is supported is through the UCL Research Data Repository. Our institutional publishing platform can be accessed here: https://rdr.ucl.ac.uk/

The RDR can be used to publish all kinds of data, in a raw or visual format. All items are given a DOI and can be referenced to the same standard as a journal article or book. Many published items are supporting data for other publications, but a large number are also standalone items.

Visual Archaeological Data

A great example of using the RDR to present and share visual information is this archaeological data record: https://doi.org/10.5522/04/11385852.v1

This record is part of a project to document and catalogue archaeological sites across Central Asia. The record includes photographs of the site, height map data, 3D models along with some descriptive information about the site itself and co-ordinates which specify the location. The 3D models are also hosted live on the Sketchfab website, but including them in this data record provides an extra level of preservation. While the Sketchfab website might become defunct, this data record becomes part of the UCL permanent collection and will retained. The files could be used to reconstruct the 3D models if needed.

Sharing Research Methods

Sharing data is important, but sharing research methodology can be a really powerful way to improve reproducibility and transparency. The UCL RDR can also be used to share methods and designs used in research. It’s worth highlighting that although the RDR has “data” in the name it is very flexible in terms of what can be shared. Questionnaires, study designs, posters and presentations are all accepted.

As an example of sharing research methods this Survey of Clinical Trial units published with the repository contains not only an anonymised set of survey responses but also the exact survey document used. This means there is a clear record of the exact questions used to generate the data that could be easily used to recreate a similar survey at later date, for example, to see how trends have shifted over time.

Access this record here: https://doi.org/10.5522/04/7992998.v1

Beyond the RDR: Publishing data from the Natsal Surveys

The UCL RDR is just one platform for sharing data, and is not always the most appropriate for a particular project. A great example of presenting data in a way that makes it available to explore for a general audience is an online interactive that’s been developed using data from the last Natsal survey.

The British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (or ‘Natsal’ for short) are a project led by UCL. So far three versions of the survey have been completed approximately every decade, the first in 1990, and since then over 45000 people have been interviewed, each one randomly-selected from across the country so that the data can be considered as broadly representative of the British population. First carried out in response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, the Natsal surveys have become the leading source of reliable information about sex in Britain. Each of the surveys provides a snapshot of the nation’s sexual behaviour, experiences, and attitudes, and together they paint a comprehensive picture of how the nation’s sex lives change over time. Interviews for the next and fourth Natsal are due to start this summer.

The Natsal research team have been sharing their data through the UK Data Service for many years, providing a useful resource for other researchers. Data released from the last survey goes one step further to make sure the data are accessible beyond professional researchers and statisticians. Anyone will be able to explore the latest Natsal data using a freely, visually engaging interactive explorer, developed as a collaboration between UCL and the Open University, which also includes a taster animation and interactive activity ‘No sex please, we’re British!’ which allows anyone to see how their own views correspond to the survey’s findings for the population as a whole.

• Access the animation and activity
• Natsal data explorer

When working with an external collaborator from another university, an industrial partner, or obtaining access to pre-existing data provided by a third party there are data management responsibilities to be aware of. Transfer of data can involve legally binding agreements governing data storage and usage. Even if a legal agreement is not required, managing the transfer and sharing of data can be challenging. Here’s a short guide to services and support at UCL.

Where to put your data?

There are several systems for storing data at UCL, depending on your needs. Here is a quick guide to determine the most suitable choice when transferring data in from external sources.

• Dropbox (www.ucl.ac.uk/dropbox/) Not to be confused with the commercial service of the same name! This service is simple and convenient if you want to transfer a small number of files to or from an external collaborator outside of UCL as a one off and needs no specific security requirements
• SharePoint and OneDrive for Business Is a better option if you need to transfer files between yourself and a collaborator more frequently. Once you are set up with this system it can be configured to allow an external user access.
• Research Data Storage Service Is for large scale data storage and supports rapid transfer of large files. Once a project is set up it can be configured to allow access for external users. This is an excellent system to use for the transfer of very large data volumes.
• Data Safe Haven This secure data storage service is suitable for personal identifiable data, and could be used in other instances when a higher level of security is desired. It conforms to the ISO 27001 standard for information security management and the NHS DSP requirements. A level of training and verification is required to get set up on the platform, so if your project requires this it’s best to begin the process as soon as possible.
• The UCL Jill Dando Institute runs a specialised laboratory for processing data which is highly sensitive such as confidential crime data. This is probably beyond the needs of the majority of UCL projects. These facilities are suitable for those that require a system which is a Police Assured Secure Facility or need to work with UK government data marked as OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and OFFICIAL. Similar to the Data Safe Haven there is a vetting and training process to get access.

Using surveys to collect data

Recently there has been move toward doing survey work largely online to support social distancing. Using online survey tools can be an efficient way to gather responses from participants and may even allow for an increase in the size and scope of a study, but there are data security concerns to be aware of.

• Questionnaires can be constructed using a variety of online tools. For any research that doesn’t involve collection of identifiable personal information there is no special requirement here. In fact, the free google forms service might fit the needs of many projects.
• UCL has access to some in-house tools that provide some extra functionality. If identifiable or otherwise sensitive data is being collected the REDcap tool can be used to send this data directly into the Data Safe Haven.
• Of course, some projects may still make use of an in-person paper survey form. In these cases, if the forms contain identifiable or sensitive information it is necessary to store the documents in a physically secure location. If the data needs to be converted into electronic format then it should be stored in the Data Safe Haven system.
• For survey work involving in-depth interviews with participants, the situation is a little more difficult. The nature of these sorts of interviews increases the likelihood of sensitive information being given. When conducting in-person interviews consider using recording devices with built-in encryption. If recording a zoom or teams interview make sure the recording is transferred as quickly as possible to safe storage and is not left in cloud storage for any length of time.

Data Transfer Agreements

You may require a kind of contract to get data from a third party, and there might be conditions attached to the permission to use this data. These kinds of contract are called Data Transfer Agreements (DTA) might need to be in place and is very likely to be part of the process when working with a commercial partner. Academic collaborators should also consider having a DTA drawn up, just to ensure clarity of how the data is being processed and prevent any disputes that could otherwise arise.

A data transfer agreement (DTA) is a specific version of a materials transfer agreement, which is a type of contract used when physical objects materials with scientific or commercial value and transferred between UCL and a third party. Both of these are handled by UCL Research and Innovation services who can provide more information and guidance on this if required.

Do also be aware that a data transfer agreement can be put in place by UCL staff and students when giving data to an external organisation too. They work both ways! If you ever need to share data with an external collaborator always consider if a DTA is necessary. It might be a useful tool to make sure your data is used for its intended purpose and is looked after properly.

This agreement is important as it outlines your responsibilities and permissions with respect to the data and is a legally binding agreement. There may be restrictions on what it can be used for, who can access it, and what security will be in place to protect the data. The agreement will specify details such as whether the data can or cannot be shared with other staff at UCL, with external partners, and what kind of security arrangements are required for storage.

Data Sources with specific application processes

A great deal of data is collected by government departments, healthcare providers and other services which can potentially be very valuable for researchers. UK law permits data the secondary use of personal data collected for reasons such as health, policing, education to be re-used for research if it is deemed to be in the public good. While specific agreements with other universities or commercial partners can be covered with DTAs, these data providers have well defined processes for granting access as they deal with relative large volumes of requests. Depending on the type of data you may have to meet security requirements. The UCL Data Safe Haven often helps with this. Here are some examples of data access services:

• Office for National Statistics
• National Pupil database
• HM Courts and Tribunals Service
• NHS digital

Need further guidance?

This is a brief overview of a big topic, so if you want further guidance on any of these points several teams across UCL can assist.

• Information Governance assist with Data Safe Haven related questions: infogov@ucl.ac.uk
• The Data Protection team also assist with questions around handling personal data: data-protection@ucl.ac.uk
• For more general enquiries the library research data management teams are a good first contact point and can direct you to the appropriate person: lib-researchsupport@ucl.ac.uk

To mark Love Data week here at UCL, the RDM team have published the now annual RDM review: https://doi.org/10.5522/04/19070309

Research Data Management (RDM) covers the decisions made – and actions taken – to manage research outputs across the research data lifecycle, complementing other components of open science and scholarship such as: Open Access, Bibliometrics, Research Integrity and Citizen Science.

As advocates of best practice in research data management, the RDM team have continued to promote UCL’s definition of ‘research data’ which emphasises that data refers to any output of research relevant to research findings and that publishing software, models, protocols, figures etc. is equally as important as publishing data.

In 2021, we reviewed a record-breaking number of data management and sharing plans; plus, we are publishing more research outputs than ever using the UCL Research Data Repository which recorded over 97000 downloads. We also continued to provide training via Moodle with almost 300 people completing writing a data management plan to date. 2021 also saw us become known as Library, Culture, Collection & Open Science and we as a team joined the Centre for Advanced Research Computing as associate staff.

Looking forwards to 2022, we plan on working even more closely with colleagues across UCL to enhance data management services throughout the research data lifecycle. We will also continue to advocate for changes to policy and practice relating to the way UCL rewards and assigns credit to all contributors to research to better acknowledge the vital contributions made by those especially in non-academic roles.

The full report can be found here: McMahon, Christiana; Houghton, James; Wallis, Kirsty (2022): Research Data Management: The 2021 Review. University College London. Presentation. https://doi.org/10.5522/04/19070309

Here’s to 2022!

Welcome to Love Data Week!

While you have probably heard of the work of the Research Data Management Team, who support you with decisions made during the research lifecycle to handle the data you work with, use or generate, from the planning stage of your project up to the long-term preservation of your data. Good data management practices are essential to meet UCL standards of research integrity.

To summarise, planning Research Data Management effectively helps you to ensure data quality, minimise risks, save time and comply with legal, ethical, institutional and funders’ requirements. The RDM team can guide you in the creation of your Data Management Plan, read and assess your plans when complete as well as advise you throughout the research process.

Contact: lib-researchsupport@ucl.ac.uk.

Outside the RDM team, there are a range of teams across the university that can support you.

The Data Protection and Freedom of Information Team are responsible for providing advice to UCL on data protection issues and handling statutory data protection and freedom of information requests. UCL’s Data Protection Officer leads the team, which sits in the Office of the General Counsel, and we work very closely with the Legal Services team and the Information Services Group.

All research proposals that involve personal data must be registered with the data protection office before processing begins. Further information, including FAQs and guidance notes are also available.

Contact: data-protection@ucl.ac.uk.

The UCL Research Ethics Committee (REC) and Research Ethics Officers facilitate an important function in the assessment of all applications submitted for ethical review and approval. The research ethics team must ensure that all applications have rigorously considered any ethical implications arising from proposed research design, methodology, conduct, dissemination, future use and data sharing and linkage, and how this will be managed should be carefully explained within a research plan. Ethical review of data management and security is a fundamental component of the ethical review procedure and researchers must demonstrate a strategy for data storage, handling of sensitive data, data retention and sharing. The following points are frequently requested:

1. What type of data will you collect and how will you describe them?
2. How will you store and keep your data secure?
3. Will you be allowed to give access to your data once the project is completed? Who will be able to access them, under what conditions and for how long?

More information about research ethics, data protection for researchers and data management tools for handling sensitive and personal/special category data is available online.

Contact: ethics@ucl.ac.uk

The Research Contracts Team sits within Research and Innovation Services. Research Contracts assists Academics by putting in place appropriate agreements for sponsored research on behalf of UCL. This includes reviewing, drafting and providing advice to Academics and Departments and negotiating acceptable terms. This includes material transfer agreements of which data, including personal and pseudo-anonymised data are part. There are current exceptions to our remit which include: Clinical Trial Agreements and EU grants & contracts, procurement agreements and consultancy.

For queries please contact:

• SLMS: SLMSresearchcontracts@ucl.ac.uk
• BEAMS: BEAMSresearchcontracts@ucl.ac.uk
• IOE/SLASH: IOESLASHresearchcontracts@ucl.ac.uk

Visit their website for more information.

The Information Governance & Compliance team are a part of the UCL Information Security Team, with a focus on research compliance. They provide support for compliance aspects of data applications, such as DARS and CAG for NHS data, also the Department for Education. They also have experience with a wide range of requirement sets ranging from commercial organisations through to public services. However, for data that falls outside of formal external agreements, for example directly collected, they can offer suitable information governance advice that aligns with the Information Commissioner’s Office accountability Framework. Most requirements can be met by using the UCL Data Safe Haven (DSH).

For research that cannot use the DSH, we can help determine suitable technical and organisational measures. We also manage access to the ONS Secure Research Service (see the process section on the left hand side of linked page).

Contact: infogov@ucl.ac.uk

The UCL/UCLH Joint Research Office (JRO) provides research management and governance support for clinical research studies that take place across University College London and/or UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). Support and guidance are provided to researchers wishing to conduct clinical research which recruits NHS patients and/or uses their tissue or their data.

This includes any clinical research that requires a formal ‘Sponsor’ as defined by the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research (2017), the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 and subsequent amendments and the Medical Devices Regulations. Sponsor authorisation for these studies are provided by the JRO or one of the UCL clinical trials units (CTU).

The JRO consists of specialist teams who interface with colleagues across UCL/UCLH to support researchers through the research process. This includes guiding researchers through the approvals processes (e.g. NHS REC/MHRA), research contracting, research finance, regulations and compliance, study set-up and conduct, and data management.

More information about the JRO and how to get in touch can be found on the website.

And finally, the Research Integrity Team oversees and supports a broad set of research integrity initiatives at UCL to ensure compliance with the Concordat to Support research integrity support UCL to ‘Pursue a responsible research agenda (UCL 2019 Research Strategy – Cross-cutting Theme A). This includes coordinating periodic audits of UCL’s adherence with research integrity standards, leading on policy matters relating to research integrity, and frameworks for supporting integrity in research, such as the Statement on Research Integrity, the Framework for Research Integrity and the Code of Conduct for Research.  The team also led on the development of training for staff and students and provide advice and advocacy across UCL.

Who knew there were so many wonderful places to get support, and information to support your research data journey! If you are reading this during Love Data Week, don’t forget that we are hosting a Research Data Clinic with members of these teams to answer your questions! Thursday 17th February 2022 at 10.30am – register your interest on the form and we will send you all the information. After Love Data Week, get in touch with the teams directly, comment below or get in touch on Twitter!

Love Data week is now upon us! We have prepared the wine, bought the chocolates, and lined up a whole host of delicious blog posts for you to enjoy!

The date for the Research Data drop-in clinic is set for Thursday 17th February at 10.30am and representatives from across the university will be ready and waiting to answer all of your questions. There is still time for you to get your link to join us by adding your email address to our contact list using this form.

And finally, throughout the week we will be sharing highlights from our suite of training videos on social media. We have a sneak preview of one of them lined up for you below! Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the blog in the menu on the right to keep up to date!

Access the full video on MediaCentral.

Forget about finding a restaurant for Valentine’s Day, join us instead in the week of the 14^th of February and love your data!

Starting on Monday 14^th February we are bringing together colleagues that support research data from across the university just for you. We will be talking about all of the different forms that data can take, featuring profiles on different teams available to support you, sources of and tools for your data, and information about how data flows through the research process.

Every day we will be launching a new blog post, sharing videos and on Thursday 17th February at 10.30am we will be hosting a drop-in clinic for all your research data questions!

If you are interested in the drop-in clinic, please let us know using this form, this will ensure that you get the link to join us! We will be trying out a new platform called Wonder for the event that allows lots of conversations to take place at once, and for you to identify the expert that you need.

Guest post by James Houghton – Research Data Support Officer

Why not publish a data report article?

For a researcher who produces large amounts of data or works heavily with software and code for analysis, getting proper credit for their efforts can be a problem. Traditionally, an academic article is written in a format where a hypothesis is tested, results produced and analysed, and ends with a conclusion. This format increasingly is a poor fit for the work of many and data journals are one solution to this issue. The goal of this kind of journal is to publish a type of article usually referred to as a data report which focusses on announcing and describing the output of research projects which are resources, raw data, databases or similar and can be of use to the research community in general.

Publishing with a data journal offers several benefits. First, a data report article is more formal than a publication of data files in a repository and is a peer reviewed publication which then contributes to a researcher’s publication record which is important for CVs and advancement for many. Second, they allow a more detailed explanation of a dataset and any analysis or code related to it than is usually otherwise possible. Third, the appearance of an article in a recognised journal can help to drive visibility of a dataset for other researchers. In practice it my often be the case that a repository will be used to host material which is discussed at length in a paper.

For the research community more generally, data reports are a great way to discover and understand valuable contributions which they can re-use and build on. The data report guarantees there has been some level of peer-review applied to the data and, therefore, increases the confidence in the quality.

Data journals have flourished in recent years. Many publishers have introduced titles which specialise in data announcements and many other journals have begun to allow data articles as one of their accepted formats. Publishers will have their own specific guidelines for exactly what to include (or not include), but data articles will often have the following features:

• Detailed description of the methodology of how the data was produced and processed, allowing for far more detail than generally appears in a “traditional” publication.
• Documentation on structure and format of the data and details of how to retrieve it.
• Comments on how the data could potentially be re-used.
• Very limited or no results and conclusions.

The scope of a data journal varies greatly

• Some journals publish a wide range of data reports that cover many research areas, such as Scientific Data published by Springer Nature.
• Others are more subject specific such as Big Earth Data published by Taylor and Francis focussing on ecology and climate science, or Journal of Open Psychology Data published by the Open Access Ubiquity Press and specialising in psychology and anthropology data.

Of course, you must always check individual journal’s instruction for authors before preparing an article for submission.

Repositories and data journals should be seen as symbiotic, rather than needing to choose one or the other. An openly shared data set can be made available, and a data journal can be used as a way of announcing the existence of the resource to the community along with a detailed commentary which might not be easily supported by the repository itself. In fact, depending on the journal, hosting the data with a recognised external repository may even be a requirement for the publication process.

We won’t attempt to provide a comprehensive list of all journals that support this publication type here. There are many discipline specific and several more generalist options – but we would encourage you to investigate the options available in your subject area and tell us what you find!