Publication and Management of Research Data

Publication and Management of Research Data

Publication of research data

Recent years have seen an increasing trend toward publishing research data (especially scientific data in papers) in the context of the promotion and development of research activities using open data and amid increasing requests from journals and research funders. HU Library assists researchers in publishing their research data.

Publication in Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (HUSCAP)

On April 1, 2021, HUSCAP amended its bylaw on the provision and publication of materials so that HUSCAP can promptly publish research data associated with scholarly and academic papers as well. The procedure for publishing research data is almost the same as that for scholarly and academic papers. For details, see the following page:

Note that HUSCAP may not be able to handle large data sizes due to the capacity of its server. Contact HUSCAP beforehand.

Publication in other data repositories

Data repositories include institutional repositories such as HUSCAP, disciplinary repositories that specialize in certain fields, and general-purpose repositories, which are not specific to certain fields or institutions (like figshare and Zenodo). When you select the data repository for publication, you need to consider the following:

  1. If the journal to which you submit a paper has a data policy or if your research funder has designated requirements for data publication, select a repository that meets such a policy or requirements.
  2. If your academic discipline already has a disciplinary repository that is widely known and used, select such a repository as a matter of priority.
  3. If none of the conditions above apply, select your repository in terms of long-term storage, cost, the availability of a persistent identifier like DOI, the availability of rights management and licensing, the existence of a clearly-stated policy, the reliability of the repository provider, and the international certification status with regard to, for example, CoreTrustSeal.

You can search for data repositories from the following sites:

Points to note when publishing your research data

As a researcher, you need to decide whether to publish your research data. Note, however, that such publication may be impossible or difficult in such cases as described below:

  • No agreement has been reached with your co-researcher(s).
  • Publication is restricted under a joint research contract with a corporation or the like.
  • Publication is restricted due to some legal issue (associated with personal information, patents and other intellectual properties, security, etc.).
  • Publication is restricted due to the conventions of the research community (in relation to, for example, the handling of clinical research data, the habitats of endangered species, or interviews in literary research).

Reference: relevant websites, guidelines, rules, etc.

Management of your research data

To promote excellent research, it is important for researchers themselves to properly manage their research data. Recent years have seen growing calls for the proper management and storage of research data in terms of research integrity. Hokkaido University provides an environment that allows researchers to manage their own research data.

Use of GakuNin RDM, a research data management service

GakuNin RDM is a research data management service provided by the National Institute of Informatics (NII). This service went into full operation on February 15, 2021. It coordinates with the cloud storage service provided by the Hokkaido University Information Initiative Center. For details, see the following page:

Learning materials on research data and other useful information

Learning materials for researchers

  • Japan Consortium for Open Access Repositories (JPCOAR) learning material: "Research Data Management for Researchers" (in Japanese), 2020

    Its contents are shown below:

    1. Before research: Acquisition of external funds
    2. Before research: How to write your Data Management Plan
    3. Before research: Utilization of your institution's infrastructure
    4. During research: Data preservation
    5. During research: Search/discover/collect data
    6. During research: Data analysis
    7. During research: Data management during data processing/analysis
    8. During research: Update your Data Management Plan
    9. After research: Data citation
    10. After research: Deciding how to publish data
    11. After research: Data registration with the appropriate repository
    12. After research: Data publishing via a data paper

Learning materials for research supporters

Others useful information

For further information, contact: Academic Information Support Division, HU Library (jsa [at] lib.hokudai.ac.jp）