Research data management

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 access statements are:

Openly available data

• All data created during this research is openly available from Manchester Metropolitan University’s research repository: [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER].

Embargoed data

• Supporting data will be available from Manchester Metropolitan University’s research repository: [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER] after a 12 month embargo period from the date of data collection to allow for the publication of research findings.

Ethical restrictions

• 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 research repository: [DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER].

Secondary analysis

• 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:

• Author(s) or creator(s) of the data
• Publication date
• Title of dataset
• Resource type
• Version
• Publisher
• Persistent identifier such as a DOI or URL

Examples of data citations are:

• Creator (Publication date). Title. Publisher. Identifier
• Creator (Publication date). Title. Version. Publisher. [Resource Type]. Identifier

See the UK Data Service How to Cite Data for more examples.