Publishing a DSC

INFO

Since Monday May 6th, the RDR has a new feature. All Data Sharing Collections (DSCs) now have an additional step in the publication process, namely the FAIR review. In this step a FAIR reviewer will help to make your data collection more FAIR. This ensures that when you publish a data collection with the RDR, the quality of that data collection is high and potential data users will be better able to find and reuse it. For more information on what this step entails, see our help page on FAIR review. Be aware that this new feature will probably effect your time schedule when publishing a DSC.

When you have finished a research project, you can publish your dataset and make it available for re-use. Similar to the publication process in scientific journals, Data Sharing Collections (DSCs) follow a review process before publication. Upon publishing your DSC in the Radboud Data Repository (RDR), the following happens:

  • The DOI becomes active. The DOI is assigned to the collection before publication. At this stage the DOI is still inactive, but you can use it to cite your data collection in your manuscript

  • Your collection's data become publicly available under the access level and Data Use Agreement (DUA) or licence you have selected. Your metadata will be visible to anyone irrespective of the access level. The metadata include all the fields that are visible under your collection's metadata tab, the list of files under your collection's files tab (only the file names are visible, their content cannot be downloaded), the automatically generated documentation files ABOUT.txt, LICENSE.txt and MANIFEST.txt and any additional files that you labelled as documentation files. Additionally, this information will be registered in RIS, meaning that the metadata visible under the metadata tab of your dataset are automatically added to your RIS account when the collection is published

  • The collection becomes read-only to ensure it is protected against any changes. Only a few metadata fields can still be changed

  • The collection receives a version number

  • The three placeholder files in your collection (MANIFEST.txt, README.txt and LICENSE.txt) are populated with relevant information. The MANIFEST.txt file is used to check for complete data transfer, the README.txt file contains a summary of the metadata fields and the LICENSE.txt file contains a copy of your chosen licence or DUA

You can choose to place an embargo on your collection. During this period, no external parties (i.e. parties other than the added managers, contributors and viewers) can access your published collection's data. Only research administrators can place embargo periods on collections, so please contact your research administrator if you would like one or would like to edit the date.

Should it be necessary to edit the collection after it has been published, the manager can request a second version of the collection by contacting their research administrator.

If you have further questions on the process of publishing your collection, contact us at rdmsupport@ubn.ru.nl for Radboud University employees or datastewardship.im@radboudumc.nl for RUMC employees. If you encounter any errors or problems when switching between collection states, you can contact the ICT helpdesk (email: icthelpdesk@ru.nl, telephone: 0031 (0)24 3622222).

Note: Only collection managers can publish collections. The publication can take up some time: the transition from external review to published could take more than a day, even for small collections. Take this into account if you have a deadline to publish your DSC.

Step 1: Prepare your collection

Please make sure that you properly prepared your collection to be reviewed and published:

  1. The collection should not contain any information that you are not allowed to share under the selected access level, especially when it comes to personal data. Have a look at our best practice page on how you can best deal with personal information in your dataset and which access level to choose

  2. The collection should be properly documented. Make, add and label documentation files for your collection. You can label files as documentation files under the edit metadata button as described on our helppage How to adjust metadata. Adding and labelling files as documentation files ensures that others can easily find information on the context, content and structure of your collection without having to access or request access to all other files in your collection. The labelled documentation files will be downloadable by everyone after you publish your collection, so make sure that these only contain information that you are allowed to share publicly. For more detailed information on documentation, see our best-practice pages on data documentation and metadata

  3. Update your collection's metadata. Make sure that all the metadata fields of your collection are correctly filled in. This makes your collection findable and is part of proper archiving. See our page on adjusting metadata for more detailed instructions

  4. The collection should be complete. No file should be missing or incomplete. You can check this with the MANIFEST file

Note that during FAIR review (step 3), a FAIR reviewer will check whether your collection has been prepared according to these recommendations. You will save yourself and the FAIR reviewer time by preparing your collection properly before submitting it for FAIR review.

Step 2: Switch to internal review

In this step, you will switch the status of your collection from editable to internal review. In this status, your collection is read-only and no changes can be made. It serves as a checkpoint for you and your colleagues (other managers, contributors and viewers) to inspect the collection. This switch is reversible, so you can always go back to the editable state in which you can make changes. In order to switch to internal review, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the RDR and select the collection that you want to publish

  2. Click the button Switch to Internal review near the top left of your screen

    ../../../_images/publish_review_internal.png

  3. A message will appear asking you to confirm your choice to switch states. Click Confirm

  4. Conditional extra step: If you have not added documentation files, you will be promted with a message informing you about this. If you would like to add documentation files, click Cancel, add them as explained in our metadata help page, and repeat step 2.2 by clicking Switch to Internal review again. Otherwise, click Confirm

  5. Conditional extra step: Some metadata fields are obligatory. If you have not filled these out, you will be prompted with a pop-up message. Fill in the missing metadata fields and click Save updates. Next, repeat step 2.2 by clicking Switch to Internal review again

If you want to edit your collection after internal review, if a file is missing for example, you can change the collection's status back to editable by clicking Switch to 'editable'. Next, make your changes and repeat step 2.

Step 3: Switch to FAIR review

In order to make your collection as FAIR as possible, your DSC is reviewed by a FAIR reviewer before it can be published. This is a mandatory step. For more information on the review process, visit our help page FAIR review.

In this step, you switch the status of your collection from internal review to FAIR review. As soon as your collection receives this status, the FAIR reviewer receives an email notification and will start the review process. The collection remains read-only for you and you cannot change its status. Within five business days, you will receive feedback on your collection.

In order to switch your collection to FAIR review, follow these steps:

  1. Click on Switch to FAIR review near the top left of your screen

  2. A message will appear asking you to confirm your choice to switch states. Click Confirm

  3. You will be asked some questions that will help speed along the review process. Answer these and click Confirm

Next, the FAIR reviewer will look at your collection and one of the following will happen:

  • If no changes are advised, the FAIR reviewer will change the status to external review. You will receive an email notification about this status change. Continue with step 4 to grant external reviewer access or step 5 to publish your collection

  • If you are advised to apply changes, the FAIR reviewer will change the collection's status to editable. You will reveive an email notification about this status change and an email with the advised changes. In consultation with the FAIR reviewer, edit your collection and start again with step 2: Switch to internal review. Note that the changes to your collection will be reviewed again by the FAIR reviewer during step 3. This will usually take less time than the first FAIR review step

Step 4: external review

When submitting a manuscript to a journal, the editor of the journal may request access to shared data. However, before acceptance of the manuscript, the content of the DSC may not be definite, so it should not be published yet. The external review status allows you to share a link with editors and reviewers who do not have a role in your collection, but need anonymous reviewer access before publication. In this status, all authors, managers, contributors and viewers of the DSC are invisible to the reviewer, and the reviewer is fully anonymous as well. Your collection remains read-only. Switch back to editable to make any edits when needed. In order to grant reviewer access, follow these steps:

  1. Click on Get reviewer access URL on the top left of your screen and copy the link that appears in the pop-up window

  2. Share the URL with the editor of the journal to which you have sent your manuscript. It may be useful to add an explanation on how reviewers can access your collection. Any reviewer that uses the link is added to the DSC anonymously and has the rights of a collection viewer. You are also anonymous: collection authors, managers, contributors and viewers are not visible to reviewers in the external review state

    ../../../_images/publish_review_URL.png

If you want to edit your collection after external review, for example if a file is missing, you can change the collection's status back to editable by clicking Switch to Editable. Next, make your changes and repeat steps 2, 3 and 4. Note that the changes to your collection will be reviewed again by the FAIR reviewer during step 3. This will usually take less time than the first FAIR review step, especially if you notify the reviewer of the enacted changes.

Step 5: Switch to Published

Note: Unlike steps 2, 3 and 4, this step is irreversible!

If your manuscript has been accepted for publication, you can publish your DSC by clicking on Switch to Published near the top left of your screen.

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A message will appear asking you to confirm the status switch. Click Confirm. Your collection has now been published. Note that the actual publication process takes some time (e.g. hours or even days), even for small collections.

Metadata fields that can be changed after publishing

Once a collection is published the following metadata fields are still editable:

  • Contact name

  • Contact email

  • Managers

  • Contributors

  • Viewers

  • Audience

  • Associated publications

  • Associated data

  • Associated analysis tools

  • Associated pre-registrations

  • Keywords

  • Embargo until: this field is only editable by the research administrator. Please contact your research administrator to edit or place an embargo on your DSC

  • Preservation time: this field is only editable by the research administrator. Please contact your research administrator if you want to change the preservation time