This section deals with how and when data will be shared and questions surrounding any restrictions or embargoes. Here you will also find information about long-term preservation of data and how to pick an appropriate data repository. This part of the data management plan refers to the FAIR principles and how they will be applied.
The Research Data Service can advise you on how to prepare your data for long-term preservation and sharing. Applying the FAIR principles for data sharing is still a new process and we can work with you to create metadata and find the right repository. The FAIR principles recognise that not all data can be shared openly and state that data should be 'as open as possible but as closed as necessary'. We also provide advice on how to share and preserved data that cannot be placed in an open repository, how and when to apply an embargo and how to put in place access conditions.
Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are used to identify digital objects uniquely. It is an alphanumeric string used to identify content and provide a persistent link to the object. A persistent identifiers linked to a particular object will never change even if the location of the object does. This means by getting a PID for your data or object you can ensure that it will not get lost or misidentified and it makes it easier to cite and track the impact. One type of PID is a DOI or a Digital Object Identifier, which are increasingly used to identify research datasets in addition to other forms of research outputs.
For advice and consultation on any aspect of long-term preservation and FAIR sharing of your research outputs you can book an appointment or contact aoife.coffey@ucc.ie.
Selecting the right data repository ensures the long-term preservation and availability of your research data/outputs. It also allows you to leverage the infrastructure of the repository to FAIRify you data. However it can be difficult to know which repository is right for your data.
Here are some criteria and minimum standards a repository should meet:
More details on the minimum standards a trustworthy repository should meet can be found in the Science Europe Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management.
Best practice suggests that if a discipline specific repository exists which is well subscribed and supported within your research field which accepts the type of data you produced then this is the best place for your data. To search for relevant data repositories please use FAIRsharing.org, which provides a curated registry of repositories (databases) as well as metadata standard and polices.
There are also generalist repositories available which can be used for all types of data such as Zenodo and Figshare. These are a good option if no disciplinary repository is available, but are necessarily generic in terms of metadata and functionality when describing your data. Zenodo is funded by the European Commission through its OpenAIRE initiative and is operated by CERN.
If you would like advice on repository selection please contact aoife.coffey@ucc.ie
CORA (Cork Open Research Archive) is the open access repository for UCC established in UCC Library to collect, store and disseminate the digital research output of the UCC scholarly community. While CORA is primarily for publications its has a limited capacity to accept data when the data can be made available openly.
Contact the CORA Team for any queries or further information.
The Digital Repository of Ireland(DRI) is a national digital repository for Ireland’s humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage data. DRI is a Trusted Digital Repository (Core Trust Seal awarded in 2018 and Data Seal of Approval in 2015) that provides long-term digital preservation and access to digital collections. As UCC is a member of the DRI, UCC researchers can benefit from access to this robust e-infrastructure for data archiving and preservation.
If you are interested in using the DRI to archive your collection please read the procedure in the pdf below and contact aoife.coffey@ucc.ie, Research Data Coordinator and Organisational Manager for the DRI.
Websites, social media posts and other web based content is ephemeral, the average lifespan of a webpage is around 100 days. Perma.cc is a new service available to researchers in UCC. UCC Library has recently become a registrar institution which means we can provide accounts to our users for free. Perma.cc is an archiving platform specifically designed to prevent link rot in your citations. This can be especially useful when referencing non-traditional literature which don’t have a persistent identifier such as a DOI including websites, social media, court judgements and company or government reports. Perma.cc takes a snapshot of the digital content and issues a persistent link to the to the archived content. This link can then be used in citations and will always resolve.
The platform was developed by Harvard Law School Library and is widely in use in law schools throughout the US. For more information on the platform please follow this link https://perma.cc/about.
The Internet Archives, Wayback Machine is another initiative which you can also use to archive web pages. Visit https://archive.org/web/ to find out more.
For more information about the Perma.cc service in UCC or to become a user contact or aoife.coffey@ucc.ie or s.bowman@ucc.ie
