Umeå University recommends making your research data accessible based on the FAIR principles and the Swedish Research Council's guidelines. This involves describing and, if possible, publishing your data in an open repository. However some data cannot be published openly because it contains sensitive or confidential material.
Read more about metadata, metadata standards and related areas.
Why share data?
According to Umeå University's research data policy, you are recommended to make your data accessible in accordance with the Swedish Research Council's guidelines and the FAIR principles. By describing and, if possible, publishing your research data in an open repository, you enable others to find and use your data.
Your research data should also be citable and traceable. Many funders, therefore, require proof that you have made your data accessible. This is done using a persistent identifier such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). For example, when you share your data via the Swedish National Data Service (SND), your data is provided with a DOI.
Research funders can easily follow up on their investment.
Your research data can be cited, and your research is more widely disseminated, which can lead to more citations of your articles.
Reviewers can check that your research results are reasonable.
Other researchers can utilise and build on your research.
Many journals require you to make your data accessible. By describing or publishing your data in a repository, you avoid having your data behind a subscription wall.
Some data must be restricted
Publicly funded research data should be made available according to the principle ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’. Data that contains sensitive or confidential information cannot be shared openly. Instead, you can make your data accessible upon request. You can still publish a metadata description of your data in a repository and provide information on how to access it.
Umeå University will assess requests for data
If a request is received, the University will review and assess whether there is a legal basis and the necessary authorisations to disclose your research data.
Which data must be restricted?
Examples of reasons for restricting access to your data:
Your data contains personal information that cannot be anonymised.
Some data are subject to confidentiality.
Your data includes material protected by copyright.
Your data contains something for which you want to apply for a patent or delay publication for competitive reasons.
Find out more about the regulations that govern how data can be shared:
There are both general repositories covering many subject areas and more subject-specific repositories.
The library provides support in the SND catalogue
The library offers support and services for using the Swedish National Data Service (SND) catalogue. In SND's research data catalogue, you can describe and publish data.
To ensure others understand your data, you must describe it fully and accurately using metadata. This also makes it easier for you to reuse your data in the future and prevents misunderstandings by others. You can use a metadata standard to facilitate the process when describing your data in a repository.
You must ensure your research data is stored and archived long-term at Umeå University. The University's legal, archive and IT (ITS) specialists can help you identify and assess solutions for the final storage of your data.
Contact us for guidance if you have plans to publish data. If you are considering patenting or otherwise utilising your research results, contact the Innovation Office first.
