Funders and publishers increasingly expect researchers to publish the data associated with their research. Sharing data publicly maximises potential benefits to the research community by enabling other researchers to find and reuse your data. It also enhances your profile and provides opportunities for future research collaborations.
Benefits of Publishing Research Data
Increases visibility, access and citation of data in the long term
Data publishing can enhance your profile as a researcher by making your research more discoverable. Publication allows other researchers to find, use and cite your work, and allows you to track the impact of your research. There is evidence to suggest that publications with open datasets attract more citations (Giovanni Colavizza et al., 2020)
Promotes scientific integrity, transparency and robustness
Data publication enables other researchers to reproduce your research to verify findings. This promotes transparency and increases the robustness of the scholarly record.
Publisher and funder requirements
Funders and publishers increasingly require the publication of datasets associated with your research. Many publishers now also require researchers to share their data as part of the peer review process. For more information, see Data Availability Statements
Publishing Research Data also encourages collaboration, allows others to build on existing data leading to new discoveries, and reduces duplication of data collecting
Colavizza,G., Hrynaszkiewicz, I., Staden, I., Whitaker, K., McGillivray, B. (2020). The citation advantage of linking publications to research data. PLoS ONE, 15(4): e0230416. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230416
Is your data FAIR to publish?
You can assess whether your data is fair (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) to publish by using
| ARDC FAIR data self-assessment tool |
In the tool, you will answer questions related to the principles underpinning Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR).
Once you’ve answered all the questions in each section, you’ll be given a ‘green bar’ indicator based on your answers in that section. When all sections are completed, it provides you with an overall ‘FAIRness’ indicator.
