Why should I share my research data?

Sharing data

• Can help build research partnerships and collaboration
• Allows discovery and citation of data sets, and the application of a DOI for persistent identification
• Increases citations to publications derived from the data
• Enables the verification of research results
• Enables researchers to combine data from different fields to explore multi-disciplinary issues (e.g. climate, water, health and energy).
• Is increasingly considered a major element in the publishing process
• Allows you to preserve data where replication isn’t possible
• Allows you to create a time series
• Avoids duplication of effort.

Data citation

Data citation is a growing practice in scholarly literature. The sharing of research data facilitates this. You can reference published datasets like other types of scholarly output.

It is good practice to include the following information in a data citation:

Authors (Year): Title. Publishers. DOI (if used)

Find out more about data citation on the ARDC website.

Research funders strongly encourage data sharing

• Read the NHMRC statement on data sharing
• Read about the ARC data management requirement

Many publishers will ask you to share your data. This could be part of the peer review process or for publishing alongside the findings

For example:

• Nature journals – “A condition of publication in a Nature journal is that authors are required to make materials, data, code, and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications.”
• PLOS journals – “PLOS journals require authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception.”

You can often find statements on data sharing on a journal’s website. Look for the author guidelines or policy section.