This page provides guidance for dataset depositors on:
- Who can deposit data to the repository?
- What can be deposited
- How to deposit a dataset
- Information required when depositing data
- What happens after you have deposited your data
- Quality assurance
Who can deposit data to the Repository?
This repository is openly available for faculty, staff and students to deposit their research datasets. In special circumstances, the University will consider requests by partnering institutions to house their datasets. Unaffiliated researchers should contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs about the process.
What can be deposited
Research data (and code or software) connected to UNC Asheville can be deposited in the repository. This includes: datasets created by current or former UNC Asheville researchers research students or staff members; datasets resulting from research conducted at UNC Asheville; datasets that appear in a journal published, or a conference hosted, by the University; or datasets resulting from research undertaken using University facilities. Data made available in the repository is publicly visible. If the data derive from human participants then data that identifies individuals, either directly or indirectly, cannot be deposited in the repository (exceptions exist where explicit consent to do so has been obtained from participants). Where the data are deidentified, the depositor must provide evidence to indicate that participant consent has been obtained that permits sharing of the pseudonymised or anonymised data publicly.
How to deposit a dataset
Download the DOI Request Application and complete the information requested. Instructions for completing the Excel spreadsheet are provided below. Upon completion, email the completed form and datasets to research@unca.edu.
Information required when depositing data
Information about the nature of the data
When submitting your data, we will ask you if your data contain any personal/sensitive, commercially sensitive or other forms of confidential/restricted information, and whether you have the rights to share these data via the repository.
Information about personal/sensitive information
For information about personal/sensitive information have a look <link>here</link>. If you have any doubts about this question, please consult with the University’s Institutional Review Board or Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
Information about other forms of confidential/restricted information
Examples of other forms of confidential/restricted information might include cases where there are confidentiality/publication restrictions in sponsorship or collaborations agreements, or, for example, where research data are subject to US export control law.
Rights to share the data
Depositors must confirm that they have the authority or permission to deposit data. This includes obtaining permission to share the data from any third parties who might hold rights over this dataset.
If you have any doubts about your rights to deposit and share your data, please consult the:
- Principal Investigator responsible for this study (if you are not the Principal Investigator)
- Copyright and Intellectual Property Committee
- Office of Research and Sponsored Programs administrator
- University General Counsel
Information about your dataset
When you submit your data, we will ask for:
- Title of the dataset
- The authors of the dataset
- Information about the publications (or thesis) associated with your dataset (if applicable) – If your data supports a publication (or publications), we will also ask you for details of the publication (title of the publication, DOI of the publication)
- Embargo options – If you wish, you will be able to select the option to embargo your dataset. Note that we will only embargo datasets until the associated publication has been published. Data files will not be publicly available while an embargo is in place, but the metadata will be publicly visible.
- Description of the data – This is important contextual information about the dataset and documenting your data comprehensively is an essential part of sharing your data well. Where are these data from? How were the data generated? Give details about your data that will help someone else understand your data and reuse it effectively.
- Keywords – Choose keyword to make your data discoverable via search engines.
- Sponsorship information and grant IDs
- License for your data – You will be required to indicate what type of license you would like to apply to your research data. You can read information about the types of licenses <link>here</link>.
Optional information
- Related resources – If you would like us to link your dataset with other relevant existing resources (for example, your other existing publications, other datasets, external reports, webpages, news articles etc.), please provide URLs here.
- ORCID – Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) provides each academic with a unique identifier, and is increasingly required by publishers and by data repositories at the stage of research output submission. The use of ORCID ensures that each academic’s research activities are distinguished from those of others with similar names.
- Name of the Principal Investigator – If you are not the Principal Investigator, you will be asked to indicate who was the Principal Investigator
- Additional information – Use to provide notes for the Research Data team. This information is for internal use only and will not be published alongside your dataset.
Administrative information
We will also collect some administrative information about you in order to process and preserve your research data:
- Your name
- Your e-mail address
- Your department/center/office
Data files
Finally, you will be asked to upload your files. If you have mistakenly uploaded the wrong file(s) then contact <email>us</email>. You are responsible for consulting the guidance on file formats before submitting your data to the data repository.
What happens after you have deposited your dataset
We will respond to you within five working days following your dataset submission. If you have specified that your dataset contains sensitive information, or if we suspect sensitive content based on the information provided, we shall contact you for more information.
When we review a dataset, we check the following before approving the dataset into the repository:
- Is this dataset submitted by (or on behalf of) a current/former UNC Asheville researcher, research student, or staff member?
- Does the submitter have the rights to share the data via the Repository?
- Does the dataset contain any confidential/restricted information?
- Do the files open without errors?
- Is the submission accompanied by appropriate metadata description? This includes keywords, a detailed dataset description, software instructions and, if applicable, additional documentation files such as readme file(s), a codebook or data dictionary.
- Are the file formats suitable for long-term access and preservation of data files? If not, could the files be exported to a different file format, more suitable for preservation?
- If applicable, has the title of the publication associated with the dataset been provided?
If your dataset contains information pertaining to human participants (including de-identified data) we will contact you to ask if you have the correct consent to allow your data to be made publicly available in the Repository. We will also ask you to send us a copy of the consent forms and/or participant information sheets for our review. All data deposited in the Repository are made publicly available.
We expect datasets to have appropriate metadata supplied so that the contents of the dataset can be understood and reused by others. If we think that any information is missing, we will get in touch with you to request the missing information.
If all the information is provided, we will upload your data into the repository and send you confirmation that your dataset has been published. Your dataset will be linked to associated publication(s), either at the point of deposit in the repository or at a later date if unavailable beforehand. We will also link your dataset to the corresponding manuscript in the repository. These steps help to increase the findability of your dataset, enhancing opportunities for dataset citation. The recommended citation for your dataset (author(s), publication date, title and ADP) is provided on the page for your dataset in the repository.
If you have selected to embargo your dataset, access to the data files can be granted only by the dataset author via our request a copy service while the files are under embargo. Although the data files are not publicly available while datasets are embargoed, please note that metadata for your dataset are publicly visible and findable via search engines. Embargoes on datasets associated with articles are removed as soon as we are aware that the article has been published .
Quality assurance
Our quality and approval checks for datasets and software/code outputs have developed over time. We will not publish a dataset that does not meet our quality standards except under exceptional circumstances. If we do publish a dataset that does not meet our standards, or if we are informed about any quality issue concerning an existing dataset, then we will provide metadata in the dataset record to describe areas of concern. This is to ensure transparency. Notification of any issues with a record can be raised by contacting <email>us</email>, stating the issues and providing the record’s ADP number.