Dataverse and data availability

More and more publishers ask you to make the data related to your publication available, too. For instance, PLOS ONE encourages authors to select repositories that meet their accepted criteria as trustworthy digital repositories. The Research Data Office (RDO) offers advice and practical support for authors. It enables researchers to provide access to the research data on their terms. In the Netherlands, a collaboration of universities offers DataverseNL , a stable data environment to support data availability. DataverseNL is based on an open source initiative initially launched by Harvard University. Read how UG researcher Sanne Kuijper used DataverseNL.

Last year Sanne Kuijper , researcher in the field of psychology, used DataverseNL to link her data to her PLOS ONE publication. Follow the persistent URL to see all the relevant research data and its metadata.

What did you do after you realised that PLOS ONE had requirements on data availability?

It was quite difficult to find out how we should make our data available with a persistent identifier. We first tried to use Pure, but that did not work (yet). Finally, we came in contact with Christina Elsenga/RDO who helped us to make the data available.

How did the RDO help you to meet these requirements?

The RDO was of great help to us. Christina Elsenga made a hidden DataVerse link for all our data. Upon acceptance of the paper, we only need to send her an email and the link was made available within one day.  

Are you satisfied with DataverseNL?

DataverseNL works perfectly fine. However, I think the use of one system for publications AND data might be easier to use.

Furthermore, it would be helpful if information about data availability (as well as information about data protection regulations) was easier to find (e.g., on the UG-website). At the moment it can be quite difficult to get in contact with the right person/department. If you don't know the RDO yet, it's difficult to find them online.

For more information on the Research Data Office, please visit their website or contact them via email. Thanks to funding from the ICT-Annual plan, the RDO is able to better connect all the links in the chain of support of data management. The Research Data Office values feedback on these innovative services.