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The State University of New York at Fredonia Reed Library

Research Data Management: Sharing

Effective research data management is an ongoing process that involves collecting, organizing, describing, sharing, and preserving data throughout the course of your research project.

As seen in the USGS Data Life-Cycle Model, sharing is an assumed part of the life-cycle.

Shifting toward sharing and "opening" data, represents a transformation in culture. This transformation should influence all choices regarding data collection, analysis, and sharing.

Why Share Data?

Encourages New Discovery

Sharing data can lead to new discoveries and scientific insights. It increases the potential for researchers to build upon existing data, facilitating new findings.

Improves Research Impact

Sharing research data can enhance the impact of your work by increasing its relevance and enabling new scientific discoveries, thereby making your research more influential.

Maintains Data Integrity

Properly documenting and managing data enhances the reproducibility of research, increasing the validity of research results. This ensures that the data can be trusted and used for future studies.

Supports Open Access Scholarly Communication

Data sharing catalyzes new research and scientific discoveries, contributing to the open-access ethos in academia and advancing knowledge within the scientific community.

Saves Time and Money

Planning and addressing data management issues early in the research process can prevent future complications, saving time and resources.

Guarantees Long-Term Data Longevity

Properly preserving data in repositories ensures its accessibility and discoverability for years to come. This safeguards your research contribution to the broader community.

Meets Funding/Grant Requirements

Many funding agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), require proper data management, documentation, and sharing as part of grant compliance.

Satisfies Journal Publication Requirements

Many journals now require that published articles are accompanied by the underlying research data, enhancing transparency and supporting the verification of research findings.

Facilitates New Scientific Discoveries

Reusing and repurposing shared data can lead to unexpected new discoveries and provide valuable raw material for researchers with limited funding resources.


Adapted from: Washington State University Libraries and National Transportation Library

Open Datasets

Check out SUNY Fredonia's Open Dataset LibGuide for a repository of open datasets encompassing a range of disciplines. 

Open Data Defined

"Open Data is research data that is freely available on the internet permitting any user to download, copy, re-process, pass to software or use for any other purpose without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself."

Helps ensure we don’t miss breakthroughs

There are a huge number of ways to use or analyze any given dataset. What seems like noise to one person could be an important discovery to someone else with a different perspective or analytical technique.

Improves the integrity of the scientific and scholarly record

When the data that underlies findings is accessible, researchers can check each other’s work and ensure that conclusions are built upon a firm foundation.

Source: SPARC

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