3. The data description is reviewed
All data descriptions that will be shared in the SND research data catalogue are reviewed by staff with specific knowledge of research data management, documentation, and accessibility. The review is made in order to guarantee that the data material can be understood and reused by someone else. When you are satisfied with your data description in DORIS and submit it, the data, metadata and related documentation will be reviewed. This review will make sure that, for instance:
- the data files have suitable file formats
- all of the relevant information in the form has been entered
- there are sufficient metadata to reuse the material
- uploaded documents can be understood.
Note: This data review isn’t a scientific assessment of your research, but focused on improving the accessibility and reusability of the data.
If you need to revise the data description with additional information or clarifications, you will be contacted by the person responsible for reviewing your material. Any changes will always made in dialogue with you. Before the data description is published in the SND catalogue, you'll be able to preview the catalogue entry. You can then verify that the information is correct and that the data are presented the way you would like them to be. We won't publish the catalogue entry until you have given your approval.
Do you have a deadline for when the data need to be published and findable via a DOI, or when they have to be searchable in the catalogue? Please make a comment of that when you submit your data description. We always try to review incoming data descriptions as soon as possible, but it helps to know if there is a deadline.
Who reviews and why?
The review and examination of the data description can be made in a few different ways. If your organisation has a local unit for research data support, the initial review is made by their staff. The system will automatically detect whether you belong to an organisation where there is a support unit. After the initial review, the data description is directed to SND, where a final review is made before the data are made accessible in the research data catalogue. If you belong to an organisation that doesn’t have a local support unit, the system will direct your data description to SND when you submit it.
This review process sets SND apart from other platforms, such as Zenodo or Figshare, who don’t perform this type of review. The difference is that SND is a so-called certified repository, which means that there are certain quality requirements for data management and documentation. The review process is a part of complying with these requirements. We also strive to make data and metadata that are shared in the SND research data catalogue as FAIR as possible, and for that purpose we have certain minimum requirements for data descriptions that are published in the catalogue.
You can read our policy for review of data and metadata here.
You can read more about what the FAIR principles for research data mean here.