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Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I share my research data?
Will my archived data be in the public domain?
Do archived data become the property of the data centre or archive?
What are the benefits of depositing data?
How can other researchers understand and therefore use my data?
Scientific excellence is measured through publications. Why would I archive data rather than publish?
Will data be peer-reviewed as a quality assurance?
What about confidentiality of my research towards informants?
I cannot submit my data for archiving because they are sensitive.
I did not get consent from my interviewees to use data beyond my own research. Can they be archived?
How do I transcribe interviews?
Must I transcribe interviews if I want to archive them?
Who has copyright of data?
Who retains copyright of in-depth interviews?
If I use existing data and combine them with data I have collected myself, do I then have copyright of the new material?
How are the rights of the original copyright holder maintained when data archived at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) are re-used by others?

Why should I share my research data?
Publicly-funded research data are public property, produced in the public interest. The value of data lies in their use. When data are managed well and shared, they can be used and re-used for scientific and educational purposes.

Sharing data:

• adds value to public investment
• facilitates diverse analyses often beyond the scope of the initial research
• encourages scientific inquiry
• avoids duplicate data collection
• supports research into data collection methods
• provides resources for education and training
• facilitates the creation of new data through combination of existing datasets

Researchers, funding agencies and the public benefit from data sharing.

Data sharing is encouraged by the research councils funding the Relu Programme through their data policies.

Will my archived data be in the public domain?
No, data archived at the UKDA are not in the public domain. The data are only available for not-for-profit research and teaching. Access to data requires user authentication using federated access management.

Do archived data become the property of the data centre or archive?
No, archived data remain the property of the original data creator(s). The data centre or archive preserves, stores and disseminates the data for you.

What are the benefits of depositing data?
Data archiving has great benefits for data owners and creators. Depositing data ensures their safe-keeping in the long term, with control maintained by the data centre on behalf of the data owner. This can include informing the owner of applications for use and maintaining registers of users and usage. The ability to demonstrate continued usage of the data after the original research is completed can influence funders to provide further research money.

The use of archived data by other researchers may lead to collaborations with the data owner and to co-authorship of publications based on re-use of the data.

Depositing data allows data owners to avoid the administrative tasks associated with external users and their queries. At the same time the data holders can foster a fruitful dialogue between original and secondary researchers by running user groups and data-use workshops while shielding the original researchers from the more tedious aspects of dissemination.

It is also an essential part of the scholarly research process to be able to identify information sources. Bibliographic control of books, papers, journals and other printed sources is taken for granted. They are identifiable in library and publishers' catalogues and, when used as source material in scholarly publications, are fully referenced.

The depositing of data enables datasets to be as fully identifiable as printed materials by ensuring that:

• they are fully documented with all bibliographical details (statements of responsibility, titles, dates of issue, names of distributors)
• they are fully catalogued in the Data Catalogue
• users of the data are aware of the need to reference the data sources in publications

How can other researchers understand and therefore use my data?
Data can only be understood and used by other researchers to their full potential if they are adequately documented. Any potential re-user should understand exactly how the research was carried out and what the data mean. The data creator should provide sufficient information on the objectives and methodology of the research; explain the data collection methods used; explicitly describe the meanings of variables and codes used and any derivation or transformations carried out.

Scientific excellence is measured through publications. Why would I archive data rather than publish?
The archiving of research data by no means replaces the need for scientific publications. Archiving data resulting from a research project provides an additional output besides many other research outputs. Archived data can complement publications and provide the base-line data used in publications.

Will data be peer-reviewed as a quality assurance?
Data offered for archiving are not subjected to peer-review. The data creator has the responsibility to ensure high quality of data, both at the stage of data collection and at the stage of data entry. The data archive will carry out certain quality reviews of the data to ensure that variables and values are accurate according to the documentation supplied; to check for missing or erroneous values; to check that confidentiality is not breached; etc.

What about confidentiality of my research towards informants?
A researcher has a duty of confidentiality towards information obtained from informants. An exception to this duty of confidentiality is when the informant has consented to the information being used in specific ways and for agreed purposes.

For archiving purposes, researchers should make clear to informants that information will be shared with other academic researchers under strict terms and conditions, and that anonymisation will be carried out if required.

It is important to demonstrate the agreement on confidentiality by obtaining written consent from informants for the use of the information obtained for the purpose of research, analysis and publication; and for archiving and use by the wider research community.

Confidentiality therefore certainly does not prohibit the archiving of data, as long as written consent is obtained from informants to archive data and confidential data are anonymised. All users of data archived at the UKDA are registered. Data are therefore not open to the public.

I cannot submit my data for archiving because they are sensitive.
It is a requirement of the Relu Programme to offer data for archiving. Most research includes sensitive or confidential data. This does not prohibit archiving. It is common practice for researchers to obtain written consent to use sensitive data for their research and publication purposes. In the same way, consent can be obtained for archiving purposes to allow secondary use of the data for research. Where necessary data can be anonymised, or access and usage can be restricted, to safeguard sensitive information.

Any expected issues of confidentiality and sensitivity of data need to be addressed at the start of research so strategies to overcome such problems and to enable archiving of the data can be developed in time.

I did not get consent from my informants to use data beyond my own research. Can they be archived?
In the case of quantitative data that are adequately anonymised, there is strictly speaking no need to obtain consent for archiving in order to enable their use by the wider research community (although it is ethically recommended to do so).

If substantial descriptive (qualitative) information obtained from informants is to be archived and informants were not asked for their consent to archive this information, they can still be re-contacted to obtain their consent.

If consent forms were presented and informants chose not to give consent for the archiving and re-use of qualitative data, then the data can not be archived.

How do I transcribe interviews?
Recorded interviews can be transcribed manually or by using specialist transcribing software.

A standard transcription structure is recommended if Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDAS) software is to be used to analyse the data, or if transcriptions are to be archived.

Transcriptions should: possess a unique identifier; adopt a uniform layout within the research project; make use of speaker tags clearly indicating the question-answer sequence; and carry line breaks.

• Example of a transcription template

Must I transcribe interviews if I want to archive them?
It is recommended that transcriptions of interviews are made. Full transcriptions significantly extend the potential for analysis and re-use of a research collection, both by the original researchers and by secondary users. Transcription should be seen as a step within the analytical process of research, rather than as a mechanical conversion of data.

Who has copyright of data?
Copyright is a type of Intellectual Property Right reflecting the output of human intellect. Copyright applies to creative and artistic original work including written work, spoken word, photographs, databases, etc. To copyright a work is to protect the labour, skill and judgement that someone has expended in the creation of that original work. Copyright is automatically assigned and does not need to be applied for.

Usually copyright is retained by the author of the original work - sometimes defined as, and including, the individual, organisation or institution. If a piece of work is completed as part of employment, the employer will retain copyright of the work. Anyone who is commissioned to create a piece of work on behalf of someone else will retain copyright of that work. Copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year in which the author dies.

When data have been created from a variety of sources or if the research has been funded by a number of organisations, there is shared copyright for all involved parties. In these cases permission to deposit and disseminate the data must be sought from all interested parties and a covering letter confirming agreement should accompany the materials when deposited.

If it is not clear to whom copyright of data should be assigned, contact the Registrar or Copyright Officer in your institution or organisation for their advice.

Who retains copyright of in-depth interviews?
The speaker holds the copyright in the spoken word. Transcription of the words on paper or computer is protected by copyright and is owned by the person making the transcription. If the transcription is a substantial reproduction of the words spoken, the speaker will own copyright in the words and a separate copyright will apply to the transcription. This is of particular relevance to the recording of in-depth interviews. This also applies to a recording on tape or video. The person making the recording will own the copyright in the recording and the interviewee will own the copyright in the words.

Copyright can only be transferred in writing and signed by the person making the transfer. This document is called an assignment. If researchers wish to publish large extracts from an interview, it is advisable to obtain a transfer of copyright.

If I use existing data and combine them with data I have collected myself, do I then have copyright of the new material?
Yes, but not sole copyright to the new material. The originator of the existing data used for the research will still retain copyright in that material. For the purpose of archiving, permission is needed from the person/organisation holding copyright of existing data to archive the new data.

How are the rights of the original copyright holder maintained when data archived at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) are re-used by others?
Access conditions for the dissemination of all materials deposited at the UKDA are agreed between the UKDA and the data depositor at the time of deposit, using the licence agreement. This agreement is a contractually binding legal document. Similarly, when materials are requested from the UKDA, a further document or access agreement, whereby the user undertakes to abide by all conditions stipulated in the agreement, will need to be completed before any materials are supplied. It is the combination of these contractual agreements that ensures copyright infringement does not occur.