Datenpublikation
In addition to publishing research results in text form, the research data on which the results are based can also be published. Publishing research data has many advantages: Scientific transparency is increased, researchers gain reputation and visibility, and the often unique data can be reused by other scientists and its potential thus optimally exploited.
Data publication as supplement
As a supplementary data publication, data is published as a supplement to a text publication, such as Supplementary Information to a journal article. This is better than not publishing the data at all, but has some disadvantages:
- The dataset cannot be quoted or referred to individually.
- Data is usually attached in text-based file formats that make it difficult to re-use (e.g. PDF instead of CSV).
- Extensive usage rights may have to be assigned to the publisher in the author contract.
Alternatively, data that is associated to a text publication can be published individually in a research data repository and linked to the corresponding text publication. This way, the dataset can be quoted independently, can be versioned if necessary, and linked to other text publications, and is at the same time clearly identifiable as the basis of the text publication.
Stand-alone data publication
As an alternative to publication as a supplement, research data can also be published independently. Suitable platforms for this are research data repositories. Numerous research data repositories are operated by scientific institutions and guarantee high visibility and security of the research data, while the rights remain with the authors.
- Long-term availability of research data according to scientific rather than commercial principles
- Individually citable with persistent identifier (e.g. DOI)
- Author retains the rights to the data
Data that is directly related to a text publication can also be deposited in a repository and linked to the text publication, rather than submitted as supplementary information with the article. An example of such a linked publication is
- the article "Heat Load Profiles in Industry and the Tertiary Sector: Correlation with Electricity Consumption and Ex Post Modeling" (https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074033)
- with linked data publication "Heat Load Profiles in Industry and the Tertiary Sector: Correlation with Electricity Consumption and Ex Post Modeling (Supplemental Data)" (https://doi.org/10.48662/daks-9).
The University of Kassel operates an institutional repository (DaKS) for both archiving and publishing data. In DaKS, research data are stored for the long term, described with metadata, and published in a citable form.
To optimize your data publication, please note our advice on suitable file formats and licenses.