Open Access to Research Data
When talking about Open Access, the conversation often revolves around articles and books. However, there is also a movement that encourages Open Access to research data and its long-term preservation.
The purpose of this section is to direct users to sources where they can obtain research data related to different disciplines. Furthermore, we talk about how the research ecosystem benefits from Open Access to data.
We suggest that you also visit the "Finding and Re-Using Data" section in our digital guide titled Research Data Management.
Benefits of Providing Open Access to Research Data
- Allows the reuse of data for innovative purposes
- Stimulates the scientific process and debate
- Generates collaborative opportunities between research groups
- By being used more, the data gains value
- Making data available encourages transparency and responsible research
- It allows and encourages scrutiny and examination of research results
- It allows others to closely examine the analysis conducted in previous projects
- Fosters the validation and improvement of research methods
- The cost of repeating data collection is spared
- Increases the impact and visibility of the research project beyond the published article
- The contribution of researchers who collected the data is recognized
- Facilitates access to important resources for the education and training of researchers
Sources for Finding Open Access Research Data
For more sources, visit the "Finding and Re-Using Data" section in our digital guide titled Research Data Management.
List of Open Access Repositories for Different Disciplines
The Open Access Directory (OAD) provides a list of repositories where you can find Open Access research data. The list is ordered by discipline. To access it, click here or go to the OAD main page and search for the "Data repositories" entry.
Licenses for Reusing Data
Open Data Commons provides licenses that you can assign to your data to grant permissions for its reuse and establish the corresponding terms. These licenses are similar to Creative Commons licenses, but are designed especially for data.