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Research Data Management (old April 2019): Data Access Statements

Guidance and support to staff, researchers and students at the University of Southampton

Data Access Statements for Publications

The data access statement should be included in the submitted manuscript, even if the identifiers have not yet been issued. The statement should be updated to include any persistent identfiers or accession numbers as they become available, typically when the manuscript is accepted for publication.  Storage should be in a stable location or repository that provides a persistent identifier such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). To request a DOI for data deposited in our institutional repository, please complete the  DOI for Data form

If the data themselves are not openly available, the data access statement should direct users to a permanent record that describes any access constraints or conditions that must be satisfied for access to be granted

Note: Directing interested parties to the corresponding author would not normally be considered sufficient to meet the requirements of funders such as the EPSRC.

There is no set format for the data access statement.  The following are recommendations on what to include:

Examples of data access statements

Openly available data

  • name(s) of the data repositories
  • persistent identifiers or accession numbers for the dataset.

"All data supporting this study are openly available from the University of Southampton repository at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/xxxxx"

For example see: Squicciarini, G., Toward, M.G.R. and Thompson, D.J. (2015) Experimental procedures for testing the performance of rail dampers. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 359, 21-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2015.07.007

Restricted access - ethical, legal, commercial

  • include justification for restriction
  • document reasons, for example,
    • the ethics approval reference number in metadata
    • collaborative agreements
    • data management plan for the project.

"Due to ethical concerns, supporting data cannot be made openly available. Further information about the data and conditions for access are available from the University of Southampton repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/xxxxx"

"Bona fide researchers, subject to registration may request supporting data via University of Southampton repository https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/xxxxx"

For example see: Krishnaveni, G.V., Veena, S.R., Srinivasan, K., Osmond, C. and Fall, C.H.D. (2015) Linear Growth and Fat and Lean Tissue Gain during Childhood: Associations with Cardiometabolic and Cognitive Outcomes in Adolescent Indian Children. Plos One, 10 (11).

Secondary analysis of existing data

If your data are the result of re-using existing data,

  • the original source(s) should be credited.

"This study was a re-analysis of existing data that are publicly available from [organisation] at [web address]"

For example see: Mcdonagh, E.L., King, B.A., Bryden, H.L., Courtois, P., Szuts, Z., Baringer, M., Cunningham, S.A., Atkinson, C. and Mccarthy, G. (2015) Continuous Estimate of Atlantic Oceanic Freshwater Flux at 26.5 degrees N. Journal of Climate, 28 (22), 8888-8906.

No new data created

  • e.g. mathematical proof.

 

"No new data were created during this study"

If the examples above do not cover your situation contact ResearchData@soton.ac.uk for further advice.