About the Repository
What is the Kingston University Research Data Repository?
The Kingston University Research Data Repository is an "open access" digital archive for the data produced by Kingston University staff and researchers during their research activity. It has been established to provide a deposit service for academic staff and researchers, supported by the University's Research, Business and Innovation Office.
Where possible the details of each item described in the archive will include a link to a freely available electronic copy of a dataset underpinning published research findings. Where there are restrictions on access to the data, details of how/if it can be accessed will be provided.
Benefits of depositing research
By storing and making available our research datasets via the Research Data Repository we will be helping the worldwide scholarly research community to discover and retrieve the work of Kingston University researchers.
Advantages for researchers
- Wider dissemination
- Data repositories such as this one enable free worldwide web-based access to research data
- Increased impact
- Studies show that research deposited in open access repositories such as this one have considerably increased impact as citation rates rise
- Increased visibility of research
- Kingston University Research Data Repository conforms to the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) standards. This means that research datasets deposited here has a higher ranking by search engines such as Google
Repository Policies
See the dedicated policy information page
Other institutions with research data repositories
Many other institutions are establishing open access repositories for research data.
Copyright concerns
Before you deposit data in the repository, it is important that you make sure that
- you have all the rights to make the data available and/or you have received permission from all other right-holders. Please note that if the repository receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item(s) will be removed immediately. Other right-holders (for example data collectors, performers, people documented in audio-visual form) must have agreed that the data can be shared on the repository, and on the specific licence the data is made available under
- you have fully cited any underlying "source" data
- you have sufficiently anonymised your data, or obtained explicit consent from any data subjects whose identity could be revealed from the data (including images)
- you understand the rights you are passing on to the repository (Kingston University – see deposit agreement and Policies section), for example regarding file retention/migration and withdrawal of items.
Glossary
- Research data
- Any material (digital or physical) collected, observed or created for the purpose of analysis to produce novel research results. Types of research data vary between disciplines, but may include raw data captured from instruments, observational data, experimental data, documents, spreadsheets, databases, laboratory notebooks, data visualisations, data models, software, images and measurements.
- Accessible
- Other users can see the data and use them (with or without restrictions).
- Discoverable
- Other users can find descriptors of the data with information about where and how the data may be accessed, or why it is confidential and not accessible.
- Highly confidential data
- Disclosure to unauthorised recipients could result in serious damage to the interests of individuals or of the University.
- Confidential data
- Disclosure to unauthorised recipients could have a negative impact on individuals or the University.
- Unclassified data
- There is no need to restrict disclosure.
- Primary data
- Research data that was created or collected by you or your project team for your current project.
- Secondary data
- Research data that was created or collected by someone else or by you for another project.
- Active data
- Research data being created, collected and analysed during a research project.
- Archive data
- Data that can be used to support research findings. Archive data should be moved from active storage into a data repository, with metadata and a persistent identifier. The data should be published where possible.
- Digital data
- Data in an electronic format that can be stored in a computer.
- Non-digital data
- Physical data, for example written notes, notebooks, artefacts, models, audio or video recordings in a non-digitised format, photographs or drawings in a non-digitised format.
- Metadata
- Information that supports the discovery, understanding and management of other data and information. Researchers should ensure that metadata created to support retained research datasets is sufficient to allow other researchers a reasonable understanding of those datasets and thereby minimise unintentional misuse, misinterpretation or confusion. For example, the metadata may need to describe the origin, processing, analysis and/or the researcher's management of a dataset.
- Potential reuse value / long term value
- All data have the potential to be re-used for other projects and additional value can be obtained from data already collected, minimising the need to repeat steps. While metadata should give sufficient detail for researchers in unanticipated future disciplines to assess the applicability, researchers should identify the areas likeliest for re-use as part of their data management and archiving preparation, and ensure the data are annotated and stored appropriately for these users. Visit this page for guidance on assessing the long term value of data.
- Proprietary data formats
- Data saved in formats that are not free to use.
- Persistent identifier
- A code, such as a digital object identifier (DOI) that provides a long-term reference to a digital object, such as an online publication or dataset. The use of a persistent identifier allows citation of a digital object without using a website address, which may become obsolete over time.
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Contact Information
Any correspondence concerning this specific repository should be sent to researchdata@kingston.ac.uk.