Research Bank describes and holds datasets that underpin the research of ACU researchers. Deposit a copy of your data set in Research Bank or alternatively deposit the description (metadata) of your dataset. Datasets in Research Bank may be made available open access or via mediated access.

The record of your data description is harvested by Research Data Australia, a national data discovery tool.

Archiving your research data in Research Bank will mean that your data will be:

• safely stored
• backed up regularly
• discoverable
• preserved for the future
• made available to others for re-use, if possible.

Contact the Research Engagement team for further information about archiving your dataset.

Prepare your data to archive in a repository

Clean, document and put your data in order before archiving it in a repository. Follow the steps below:

• Define the dataset: identify all the files in your data set, including raw data files (in the initial format), processed data files (e.g. cleaned data; raw data saved to another format; statistical analyses and visualisations), documentation, programming code (e.g. analysis scripts). Include this information in a readme.txt file.

• Ensure the data are stored in open formats, suitable for preservation, for example by saving tabular data in CSV format.

• Ensure your data files are well-formed and readable. Check the data for errors and apply consistent style and formatting. Use consistent file names, which are descriptive of the file contents, and formatted without spaces or special characters. The Wellcome Trust provides guidance on preparing spreadsheet data.

• Redact the data as necessary. Prepare sensitive data for archiving by de-identifying, anonymising, or aggregating where necessary. The Australian Research Data Commons provides guidelines for data anonymisation.

• Ensure the size of the dataset does not exceed any size limitations specified by your chosen data repository. If you have a large dataset, compress the files.

Prepare accompanying documentation

Archive a basic manual or readme guide guide alongside your dataset, so future users of the data can understand and use it correctly. A readme guide should include:

• citation information for the dataset (creators, title, publication year)
• identification of the rights-holder(s) with licence statements
• an abstract for the dataset providing details of the research project and the purpose for which the data was collected
• a description of the contents of the dataset
• key interpretative information, e.g. a full definition of variables and units used, such as a codebook or data dictionary
• details of the methods and instruments used to collect, process and analyse the data, and relevant supporting information, such as analysis scripts
• references to any secondary data sources used
• references to related publications

Check your consents

If data have been collected from living persons, check that you have properly documented informed consent for data sharing.

It is not acceptable to disclose any data if you have not included this condition in your consent documentation.

Obtain consent from research participants before data collection.

Identify dataset creators and rights-holders

Be clear about who created the dataset, as ownership rights and permission to distribute the dataset will be associated with its creators.

Your authorisation to archive and distribute the dataset depends on the permission of the rights-holders.

Consult the ACU Intellectual Property Policy for guidance around the ownership of intellectual property.

ACU staff

Australian Catholic University is ordinarily the rights-holder in a dataset created by its employees.

If your dataset has multiple creators, it may also have multiple rights-holders, which may include the University and organisations.

ACU students

ACU students own the IP of their data by default. Select the appropriate licensing to attach to your data

IP should always be published under a licence, so that ownership and terms of use are clear to others.

Obtain permissions

Obtain permission (if necessary) to archive and distribute the dataset from the creators; the rights-holders; parties with contractual rights regarding publication of research outputs; secondary data owners.

When contacting other parties for permission to archive and distribute data, identify the data unambiguously, and be clear how the data will be made available, and on what terms the data will be licensed for use.