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Open research data is:
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A researcher may choose to remain the gatekeeper, and all requests to access the data may be directed to a nominated contact. Access methods may include sending the data directly to the requesting researcher or providing a login to download the data from a secure site.
Sharing data does not necessarily mean making data openly and publicly available, although this is something that many researchers choose to do and may also be a funding requirement. When choosing to share data, researchers can determine access conditions and to set a desired level of access to their datasets.
Level of access | Description |
Open access |
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Mediated access |
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Closed access |
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Research data can be shared via several paths:
Type of directory |
Examples |
Institutional repositories |
Examples of deposited data include: Contact for deposit: nova@newcastle.edu.au |
Data directories |
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Data portals | |
Data journals |
Check the CHORUS website for a centralized index of publishers’ policies with links to each publisher’s site.
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Sensitive data is defined as "data that can be used to identify an individual, species, object, or location that introduces a risk of discrimination, harm, or unwanted attention. Under law and the research ethics governance of most institutions, sensitive data cannot typically be shared in this form, with few exceptions." (Sensitive data, ARDC, 2022)
Sensitive data can relate to:
However, it is possible to share sensitive data. The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) provides advice on sharing sensitive data.
The Research Data and Primary Materials Management Procedure (Section 5, 22-23) includes the following advice on sharing research data:
Research data and primary materials should be made available for re-use by other researchers unless precluded by privacy, safety and/or confidentiality requirements. Preclusions include formal confidentiality agreements, where research is focused on developing protectable intellectual property, or existing agreements or protocols approved by a properly constituted human or animal ethics committee. Researchers interested in re-using research data or primary materials should consult the owner of the data or materials, or the owner’s supervisor or Head of School should the owner not be available.
Access or re-use of data or information used in or generated by research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities will be subject to consultation with those peoples and communities prior to access or re-use.
Australian funding agencies have guidelines and requirements relating to research data management. These guidelines address data in terms of:
data management plans and planning,
data dissemination and sharing,
data access and reuse
long term data storage.
Underpinning these requirements are the data guidelines as set out in the Australian Code for Responsible Conduct of Research.
Copyright and ownership are important considerations when undertaking research and authoring research outputs. Materials created or owned by third- parties will require permission for reproduction or other reuse before they can published.
For information on copyright and how it applies to your data, please see the Library’s Copyright for Staff page. For advice and support on seeking written permissions to reproduce material, please contact the Copyright Advisor.
Applying a licence to research data will help other researchers to understand how they can reuse your data and what (if any) restrictions have been placed on it. Open licences provide a simple way for authors to share their work with others within copyright. The licences provide permissions for users to reuse, remix and share the content legally.
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A digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent location identifier for a specific output such as a dataset. The DOI is made up of a string of numbers, letters, and symbols, which identify the output and provide a permanent link to its location. DOIs assist in making data outputs more findable and citable. Assigning a DOI also provides the ability for the data to be tracked by metrics systems, such as Altmetric Explorer.
The Library provides a DOI minting service for:
research datasets and collections, associated workflows, software, and models
theses, reports, unpublished conference papers, newsletters, creative works, technical standards, and specifications for which the institutional repository is the primary publication point.
There is no charge for this service. This service is not available for peer- reviewed journal articles, ephemera, book chapters, or teaching and learning material.
Email researchdata@newcastle.edu.au to request a DOI or for further information.
The FAIR Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management and Stewardship provide guidelines to improve the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of data.
The first step in (re)using data is to find them. Metadata and data should be easy to find for both humans and computers. Machine-readable metadata are essential for automatic discovery of datasets and services, so this is an essential component of the
Steps to make your data findable
Once the user finds the required data, they need to know how they can be accessed, possibly including authentication and authorisation.
Steps to make your data accessible
The data usually need to be integrated with other data. In addition, the data need to interoperate with applications or workflows for analysis, storage, and processing.
Steps to make your data interoperable
The ultimate goal of FAIR is to optimise the reuse of data. To achieve this, metadata and data should be well-described so that they can be replicated and/or combined in different settings.
Steps to make your data reusable