Re‑use of research data

Here we have gathered information about where to find research data and what you may need to consider if you want to use the data in your own study.

To think about

Research data created at public higher education institutions is considered a public document in Sweden. This means that you can ask the university to access research data. Access to research data may be restricted if it contains protective material, such as personal data or trade secrets — data covered by GDPR or privacy legislation. Some data can be freely downloaded from repositories while other sensitive data is stored securely in the university’s locked storage area and may then require a special review before the data is disclosed to you. Whether it’s open or locked data, if the data is collected and described in a repository, you will be able to access metadata (data about data). You will then get more comprehensive information about the material — such as where the material is collected, file format and size — even if you can´t access the data itself.

Keep in mind that research data is often context dependent. For it to make sense for you to reuse data, you need to understand how and for generated. For example, interviews can be challenging to reuse, but there may still be parts of the material that may be of interest to you, such as interview questions. The context can be recreated using metadata and documentation.

In the Swedish Research Council’s handbook Learn more about open access to research data (Only in Swedish), you can read more about what open access to research data means. The manual also addresses related issues, such as FAIR data management and data management plans.

Citation of research data

When using other people’s research data, you should always quote it correctly. You need to enter:

Originator, Year of Publishing, Title, Version, Data Repository, Resource Type, DOI or another unique identifier:

Barber, L.B., Weber, A.K., LeBlanc, D.R., Hull, R.B., Sunderland, E.M., and Vecitis, C.D., 2017, Poly-and perfluoroalkyl substances in contaminated groundwater, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2014-2015 (ver. 1.1, March 24, 2017): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7Z899KT

Here you will find research data

Research Data Repository

Here are some platforms where you can search and make research data available:

SND is a national platform for disseminating research data that can be shared openly or made searchable. SND’s system for describing and sharing data is called DORIS.

Zenodo is a European open data repository where research data can be uploaded and published, CERN.

Figshare is an open data repository where researchers can upload and publish research data, Digital Science.

Dryad is a general repository that saves research data linked to published articles. Created by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, UNC-CH Metadata Reserach Center, Oxford University, The British Library and California Digital Library.

Dataverse is a general repositorium, Harvard University.

Easy is a general repository, DANS (Dutch National Centre of Expertise and Repository for Research Data).

Mendeley Data is a general repository that contains more than just research data, Elsevier.

GitHub - general repositories with a lot of code, Microsoft.

Re3data.org - Search for data repositories in different subject areas.