Research Data – Latest News & Worth Knowing

Source: Own Illustration

At the very latest when research data needs to be stored, archived, or published in a structured manner, an important question arises: Where is the best place to store the data?

At RWTH, various services are available to researchers. At the same time, there are numerous discipline-specific repositories tailored to the needs of individual fields. The right choice depends less on the file format and more on the goal: Will the data be actively used? Does it need to be preserved long-term? Or should it be published and made available for reuse?

Are You Still Actively Working With Your Research Data?

Then Coscine is usually the right solution. Coscine is the central platform for research data management during an ongoing project. It helps researchers store data in a structured way, edit it as a team, and enrich it with metadata. This ensures that data remains not only discoverable but also documented in a traceable manner.

Research projects often generate large amounts of data that need to be organized in a structured manner, documented, and shared. This is exactly where Coscine comes in. The platform supports researchers in managing their data and facilitates collaboration within project teams. By using metadata, datasets can also be documented early on and retrieved more easily later.

Coscine is particularly well-suited for:

• the structured storage of research data,
• collaboration within project teams,
• documentation using metadata,
• preparing for future archiving or publication.

The focus is on actively working with the data during the research process.

Do You Want Your Data to Be Preserved Long-Term?

Not all research data needs to be published. Nevertheless, many funding agencies and academic institutions require that data be retained for a defined period of time. Guideline 17 of Good Scientific Practice, for example, recommends archiving data for at least 10 years.

Coscine offers suitable options for this as well. With its archiving feature which retains data for 10 years after the end of a project data and metadata can be secured for the long term, ensuring that research results remain traceable even years later.

Archiving may be useful, for example, if:

• legal or institutional retention periods must be met,
• data cannot be published for data protection reasons,
• the traceability of research results needs to be ensured.

Would You Like to Publish Your Research Data?

Then it’s worth taking a look at RWTH Publications. RWTH Publications is the institutional repository of RWTH Aachen University. Among other things, research data can be published there and thus made permanently accessible. Each dataset is assigned a DOI, ensuring it can be uniquely cited and found over the long term. The repository is particularly well-suited for completed datasets that are to be made available to the scientific community. All datasets undergo editorial review by the University Library team before being made publicly available to ensure high quality.

Typical uses:

• Publication of completed research data
• Assignment of a DOI for citability
• Compliance with requirements set by funding agencies
• Visibility and reusability of research results

In short: RWTH Publications makes research data permanently publicly accessible and citable.

Is There a Subject-Specific Repository for Your Discipline?

Before publishing research data in an institutional repository, you should check whether an established subject-specific repository already exists.

Many scientific communities have developed their own platforms that are specifically tailored to the requirements of their fields. These offer standardized metadata schemas, subject-specific search options, and high visibility within the respective community.

Well-known examples include:

• PANGAEA for earth and environmental sciences,
• GenBank for genetic sequences,
• RSCB Protein Data Bank for structural biology,
• GEO for gene expression data,
• GESIS Data Archive for social science research data,
• and many more.

If an established subject-specific repository exists, it is often the first choice, as the data there can be more easily found and reused by the relevant academic community when established solutions are available within one’s own discipline.

Another option is the interdisciplinary repository Zenodo. It offers an accessible way to publish research data. It is also an interdisciplinary repository. Unlike RWTH Publications, the publication process here does not include an editorial review.

Decision-Making Guide at a Glance

Conclusion

The question is not “Coscine, RWTH Publications, or a subject-specific repository?” but rather: Which service best supports my project?

Coscine is the central hub for actively working with research data. On this platform, metadata profiles based on discipline-specific standards can already be stored and used in the future discipline-specific repository. When it comes to publishing and ensuring the citability of datasets, RWTH Publications offers the appropriate infrastructure. If an established discipline-specific repository also exists, this should be factored into the decision.

Choosing the appropriate storage or publication location is a key component of sustainable research data management and helps ensure that research results remain discoverable, traceable, and reusable in the long term.

Learn More

Are you unsure which storage or publication location is suitable for your research data?

The RDM team at RWTH is happy to assist you at any time with any questions regarding research data management.

Responsible for the content of this article is Arlinda Ujkani.

Kategorie: An der RWTH, Informationen & Beratung, Services
Schlagworte: Archivierung, coscine, DOI, FDM, Forschungsdaten, RDM, RWTH, RWTH Publications
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