Guides: Research data management: Deposit data

Share your data

Deposit data
Data access statements
Licensing data
Citing data

Where do I deposit?

Many funders have requirements or recommendations about where you should deposit data after the project. If you have any questions about funder policies or how to deposit, you can always ask the library: rsl@mmu.ac.uk.

Even if you deposit your data elsewhere, you can still deposit in e-space. It is the University's policy that, at the very least, a metadata record is created for datasets.

Manchester Metropolitan University institutional repository

e-space allows researchers to securely store their end-of-project data. The service is provided by EPrints and backed up by Arkivum, who offer a 100% guarantee that files will not be lost or corrupted.

e-space will:

Make your data discoverable
Connect publications with their underlying datasets
Coin a DOI for your dataset

To deposit data or create a record in e-space, fill in the form below or, email rsl@mmu.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Data access statements provide information about the data such as:

Where it can be found
Who can access it
The conditions under which it can be accessed such as restrictions
How the data can be accessed. If not openly available, the statement should point to a record
The license under which the data is made available
Persistent identifiers

Most funders require data access statements to accompany the data. Statements should be included on the data itself as well as any publications associated with the data.

Example data availability statements are:

All data created during this research is openly available from Manchester Metropolitan University’s data archive, e-space, at [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER].
Supporting data will be available from Manchester Metropolitan University’s data archive, e-space, at [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER] after a 12 month embargo period from the date of data collection to allow for the publication of research findings.
Owing to ethical concerns/the sensitive nature of this research, the data underlying this publication cannot be made openly available. Further information, including conditions for access, can be found at Manchester Metropolitan University’s data archive, e-space: [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER].
This study was a re-analysis of existing data that is publicly available from [REPOSITORY NAME] at [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER].

A license can be applied to a dataset to clarify the terms of its use. The rights and ownership of the data must be understood before the data is made available, and this is usually clear before the project begins. In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide multiple licenses such as to various parts of the data itself, the source code, or a database.

Open Access licenses

Creative Commons had developed six licenses allowing you to stipulate how the data can be used and reused. These are widely accepted, standard licenses and are recommended by many institutions. They are most appropriate for datasets.

Open Data Commons has developed three licenses, one of which is appropriate for databases which have specific considerations. These are also accepted, standard licenses.

Open Data Commons Guide to Open Data Licensing

Data Curation Centre guide on How to License Research Data

Cessda (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives) guide to Licensing your data

Like publications, the use of datasets must be attributed and cited. It is good practice to also include a citation to your data so others cite it correctly.

Common elements include: