Author Archives: Isabel Chadwick

About Isabel Chadwick

Research Support Librarian at the Open University. I look after ORDO, the institutional research data repository and provide guidance and training on all thing research data related.

Have you got your licence?

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I’ve recently been helping some colleagues in the Science faculty to put together a Data Management Plan for the EU funded Europlanet project (see my recent post for more information on the EU Horizon 2020 open data pilot).

licences

CCO Data by Auke Herrema

One of the issues we have been discussing is licensing research data. Assigning a licence to the data you share is important as providing clear guidance on what re-users can do with your data helps disentangle some of the complexities and ambiguities surrounding rights (of which there are many – different jurisdictions have different laws regarding copyright on data so things can get confusing). Licensing your data is a good way of clarifying the terms of use.

When choosing a licence it is important to consider how you want your data to be reused. You can then apply a licence that most closely reflects those intended uses. Applying an explicit licence removes any ambiguity over what users can and cannot do with your data.

Lawyers can craft licences to meet specific criteria, but there are a number of open licences developed for widespread use that anyone can apply. There are many advantages to using standard licences rather than bespoke ones; as well as the benefits of enhanced organisational efficiency and cost saving, the use of standard licensing terms can lead to greater interoperability of data and increased user awareness of the licence terms, thereby enabling better compliance.

creativecommons

Click to enlarge

The recommended licence type for data created/collected in Horizon 2020 projects is Creative Commons (although other options are available – see links below for more information). Creative Commons licences offer a sort of “pick and mix” approach, meaning that you can assign a variety of different conditions on reuse of your data to make the terms of reuse more or less open, as needed. Creative Commons licences are widely used and understood, so they are a good option for making the terms of use for your data more transparent to users.

For more information, check out the following links:

For help understanding issues surrounding licensing research data, email library-research-support@open.ac.uk 

Where are your research data stored? Changes to EU Data Protection Law

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Data Protection by Mista Bob on Flickr

Data Protection by Mista Bob on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/mistabob/4979532293

Last month, the European High Court ruled that organisations in EU member states cannot rely on the US Safe Harbor framework as being equivalent to EU Data Protection Law. If you are dealing with personal data as part of your research project, this may have an impact on you.

Research projects that involve partners or participants outside of the Open University, in whatever country, must be clear in the invitation to participate how any data will be shared, with whom and their location.

Cloud storage services

Whenever you sign up to store data in a cloud storage service make sure you read the terms and conditions to understand how and where these data will be kept. A good cloud storage provider should have clear and transparent information on their website about how they will secure your personal information and what they will or will not do with it.  If you cannot find this information or feel terms are unfair or unclear, shop around and compare the information.

If you currently use any of the following online services to store personal data, you will need to review your processes (please note: this list is not exhaustive):

  • Apple iCloud
  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive

Online survey tools

Researchers making use of survey tools such as Surveymonkey that are based in the US must obtain consent from voluntary participants for their personal data to be stored and processed in the US, for example, by using the following wording in the survey invitation:

‘This survey is using [e.g. Surveymonkey] and any information you enter will be stored temporarily in the US. By taking part in the survey you are consenting to any information that can identify you as an individual being stored in this way.’

Still unsure?

Further Information

Training opportunity: Getting to grips with Open Access Publishing

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Getting to Grips with Open Access Publishingopen access

8th December 2015 from 2.00 – 3:30 pm
Seminar Rooms 1&2, 2nd Floor, Library
 

Increasingly, researchers are expected to publish their outputs by open access to satisfy the requirements of the research funders in the UK and abroad. This session will introduce participants to the benefits of open access publishing, and to UK and international funder policies for open access. The session will also address the new HEFCE policy on open access for the post-2014 REF.

This session is open to all.

Booking required in advance, please email library-training@open.ac.uk places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Update: 

Thanks to everyone who attended the presentation.

Presentation slides area available here: Getting to Grips with Open Access Publishing 2015-12 v2

Session notes are available here: Getting to Grips with Open Access Publishing_Notes_2015-12

Getting to grips with RDM

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This morning I ran a workshop on Research Data Management for research staff and students. As usual, the topic generated lots of interesting discussion, and it was a great opportunity for researchers to talk through their data management issues with colleagues. As promised,  I’ve uploaded the slides here.

If you missed the workshop this time, don’t worry – we’ll be running the session again on 12th May. Keep an eye out for emails from the Research Career Development team in the new year for details.

Keep your eyes on the Horizon (2020)

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horizon2020imageThis week I met with 2 research teams who are embarking on projects within the EU’s Horizon 2020 funding stream to talk about research data management and sharing. A novelty for Horizon 2020 is the introduction of a research data pilot, which is compulsory in a number of research areas, although other projects are invited (and encouraged) to opt-in.

Research areas affected are:

  • Future and Emerging Technologies
  • Research infrastructures
  • Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Information and Communication Technologies
  • Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology: ‘nanosafety’ and ‘modelling’ topics
  • Societal Challenge: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy – selected topics as specified in the work programme
  • Societal Challenge: Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw materials – except raw materials
  • Societal Challenge: Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies
  • Science with and for Society
  • Cross-cutting activities – focus areas – part Smart and Sustainable Cities

One of the key deliverables for projects involved in the pilot is a data management plan (DMP) within the first 6 months. This plan describes the datasets to be produced; which standards and metadata will be employed; how and when data will be shared; and plans for the long-term preservation of data. More elaborated versions of the DMP can be delivered at later stages of the project, and at a minimum at the mid-term and final review.

dmponlineOne of the main issues concerning the development of DMPs and the management of data for the project teams I have been working with, is the international, multi-institutional nature of the projects. Different institutions will be collecting, managing and storing different datasets, so it is important that the DMP is a collaborative effort between all those responsible for doing so. Using DMPOnline, a tool designed by the DCC to write and share the plan will enable collaborative editing of the plan, with the ability to assign different permission levels to different users as appropriate. To find out more about data management plans and using DMPOnline visit the Data Management Planning page on the RDM intranet site (internal link only).

If you’re starting a Horizon 2020 project and would like advice and support for writing a data management plan, please email library-research-support@open.ac.uk

Training opportunity: Getting to Grips with Research Data Management

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Early Bird Seminar: Getting to Grips with Research Data Management
Tuesday 10th November 2015: 9.30-11.00
Library Seminar Rooms 1 and 2 
 
data word clood

 Whether you’re conducting interviews, collecting samples, creating software or analyzing texts, your research data is a valuable asset which should be managed properly and made publicly available alongside your other research outputs wherever possible.

This session will give an introduction to the basics of research data management: what it is, why it’s important and ways that you can embed research data management into your everyday working practice.

Booking required in advance, please email library-training@open.ac.uk  Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Open Access Week: 19th – 23rd October

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oa-week_865x180
Next week is Open Access Week, and to celebrate, together with RSQ Unit we’ve arranged a series of lunchtime events.

Lunch will be provided; register by following the links below to guarantee your place.

Monday 19th October, 12pm – Library Seminar Room 1

Academic Social Networking Sites

Katy Jordan (Institute of Educational Technology) will discuss the emergence of academic networking sites such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu, and their impact on openness of research in the academic community.

Eventbrite - Open Access Week: Academic Social Networking Sites

Tuesday 20th October, 12pm – Library Seminar Room 1

Open Data

The Pelagios project seeks to use linked open data to create connections between places in the ancient world and the present. Dr Elton Barker from the Classics Department will introduce attendees to the way in which open data is being applied to create a new sense of the world in this project.

Eventbrite - Open Acces Week: Open Data

Wednesday 21st October, 12.30pm – Library Presentation Room

Running an Open Access Journal

A panel featuring the editors of the OU’s Open Access journals:  Francesca Benatti (Arts), Clem Herman (Maths, Computing and Technology) and Martin Weller (Institute of Educational Technology) will discuss the role of university-based open access journals in meeting the challenges of academic publishing in the 21st century.

Eventbrite - Open Access Week: Running an Open Access Journal

Thursday 22nd October, 12pm – Library 2nd Floor Meeting Room

Open Research Online (ORO): The Gateway to Green Open Access Publishing

A panel of OU researchers: Richard Blundel (Faculty of Business and Law), Simon Kelley (Science) Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (Institute of Educational Technology) and Shailey Minocha (Maths, Computing and Technology) will discuss how using ORO has opened up new horizons for their research, introducing their publications to new audiences, and bringing them in contact with researchers and professionals from around the world.

Eventbrite - Open Access Week: ORO, the Gateway to Green Open Access Publishing

We look forward to seeing you there!

Open Access Week 2015: 19th-23rd October

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open access week

 Are you interested in making your research more open?

The 8th annual International Open Access week runs from 19th -23rd October and to celebrate, Library Services in conjunction with Research Scholarship and Quality (RSQ) Unit have organised a series of lunchtime events.

This year we are highlighting a number of the OU’s Open Access success stories, including:

  •  how using social networking sites has created new opportunities for research collaboration
  • some of the innovative ways researchers are using open data
  • experiences of OU academics who are running open access journals
  • how using ORO has opened up new horizons for open research

Sessions are open to all, and lunch will be provided.

For more information and to sign up, visit the Open Access Week event page.

 

Credit where credit’s due: How and why to cite data

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If your research papers are based on data, you should make sure you cite those data as you would any other research output.force 11 data citation principles

According to the UK Data Service, data are a vital part of the scientific research process and proper citation should be a significant feature of research publications. Data citation:

  • acknowledges the author’s sources
  • makes identifying data easier
  • promotes the reproduction of research results
  • makes it easier to find data
  • allows the impact of data to be tracked
  • provides a structure which recognises and can reward data creators

In 2014, FORCE11 drew up a set of Data Citation Principles (see box, right), these high level recommendations for the research community emphasise the importance of data citation.

The use of DOIs for research data was identified as one of the recommendations in the Metric Tide report (summarised by Nicola in an earlier blog post):

“The use of digital object identifiers (DOIs) should be extended to cover all research outputs… DOIs already predominate in the journal publishing sphere – they should be extended to cover other outputs where no identifier system exists, such as book chapters and datasets” (HEFCE, 2015)

Ideally, all publicly available research data should be assigned a persistent identifier (like a DOI) to ensure long-term discoverability and availability. If you deposit your data in a well-established, trusted data repository or archive your data should be assigned with a DOI (or other identifier). It is important to include these identifiers as part of your citations whenever available, to encourage future data re-use and enable the tracking of citations.

Despite the clear drivers for citing data, in her post for the e-science community blog: Tracking the impacts of data, Stacy Konkiel notes that

“as few as 25% of journal articles tend to formally cite data.”

So, it’s time to give credit where credit’s due and cite the data you’re using in your research publications.

In order to raise the profile of research data citation, the UK Data Service has introduced a #CiteTheData campaign, find them on Twitter @UKDSImpact.

Find out more

The following resources may help you to understand more about why and how to cite research data:

 

Depositing in UK Data Archive Reshare – online training

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Re-posted from: http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/news-and-events/newsitem/?id=4175 

A guided walk through ReShare: 22 September 2015: 12.00-13.00 (online)

Are you an ESRC grant holder who has a grant that has ended and are required by the ESRC to submit your research data into the ReShare repository?

Are you a researcher interested in depositing data into ReShare, to make them available for reuse or as evidence for a published paper? Are you just curious to explore how publishing in ReShare happens in practice?

If so, come and join an interactive online group session, led by experts at the UK Data Service, where we’ll ‘walk’ you through the process of submitting a data collection into the ReShare repository. You can then start describing and uploading your own data collection. We will be there to answer any questions you may have and to help you, should you encounter problems. At the end you can submit your data collection and after a final review by us, we’ll publish it. Or you can opt to save your data collection for later submission.

In practice you will learn:

  • How to start the process of depositing data into ReShare
  • How to describe a data collection well (i.e. which metadata to provide)
  • Why providing detailed and accurate metadata is important
  • How to prepare and upload your data files and documentation files
  • How to decide upon the most suitable access level and licence for your data
  • How we review your data before publishing it

Before joining the online session you’ll need to register with the UK Data Service and have your data and documentation files prepared according to our guidelines. Booking will be limited to 15 people and priority will be given to ESRC grant holders whose grant has recently ended.

For more information and to register, visit the event page on the UK Data Archive website.