Finding and reusing datasets for research, learning and teaching

Subject Specific & Funder Open Access Data Repositories

There are numerous subject specific repositories - too many to list individually. If you need help identifying subject specific repositories  have a looks at r3data.org Registry of Research Data Repositories. This will allow you to search or browse for subject-specific repositories.

• The UK Data Service is the UK’s largest collection of social, economic and population data resources. It also holds data from studies funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as well as other Social Science datasets.  Recordings on all
• their webinar training sessions are available from YouTube UK Data Service.
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has 5 data centres links available to each from the NERC Environmental Data Service (EDS). You can also search for datasets using the NERC Data catalogue Service.

 Some Useful Dataset Search Engines

No single search engine will find datasets in every repository. Each will be limited to the repositories indexed, and there will be some overlap. The search functionality is not usually as good as within a subject repository but these tools can be useful if you do not have a specific subject data repository.

• Data Citation Index –this is part of Web of Science, one of the Library subscribed databases, and access is available from the Library Resources A-Z . A list of the repositories indexed and searchable is available. Web of Science have a useful guide on how to use the Data citation Index and there is also a short You Tube tutorial - Getting Started with the Data Citation Index . 
• OpenAire - a European project supporting the Open Science movement. Includes data sets and on the home page has a useful browse by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals functionality.
• CESSDA Data Catalogue  Datasets come from over 20 European countries. Good for searching and finding European social science data ( UK data also included).
• DataCite Commons
• Google Dataset Search and also Google and other search engines will find some datasets.
• Eu Open Data Portal - search for public data published by the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies.
• EMBL-EBI - part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an intergovernmental research organisation funded by over 20 member states, prospect and associate member states.

Interdisciplinary Open Access Data Repositories  

• Zenodo -  listed here as an interdisciplinary repository but it also holds data from projects funded by  the European Commission and includes UK projects in addition to other non funded datasets
• Figshare 
• Mendeley Data
• Open Science Framework
• Dryad repository -mainly holds datasets linked to publications. All content is licenced CC0 

Data Providers: UK 

• UK Data Service 
• Office for National Statistics
• UK Government Data - Find data published by central government, local authorities and public bodies to help you build products and services.
• Scottish Government statistics  
• National Records of Scotland

Data Providers: International 

• European Statistical Office (Eurostat)
• World Trade Organisation
• World Bank Open Data
• UN Data

Abertay Datasets

Pure acts as a catalogue for Abertay datasets  and includes datasets deposited in Pure as well as datasets deposited in external data repositories. You can find these listed on Abertay's Pure Portal. Most universities will have an open access repository so if there is a specific researcher or University that you are interested in, check their institutional OA repository for datasets. 

Reliable data will be accompanied by information that describes the context and provenance of the data.  Ensure that the origin of the data, the creators and methodology is clear and that the rights of the data subjects have been respected.

Always check the licence and reuse terms, and provide a citation for the derivative dataset. The licence associated with the original dataset or datasets will determine how the new dataset can be used and shared. If you have used more than one dataset and these have different licences, then usually the resultant dataset must be licenced under the most restrictive licence of the original datasets. More information on licence stacking is provided below.

Commonly Used Dataset Licences

1 .Creative Common Licences

• Attribution, CC BY
• Waiver of copyright, CC0

The two CC licences above are the most commonly used CC dataset licences used and have the least number of restrictions on reuse.

• No derivative Licences e.g., CC BY-ND 
• Non Commercial  e.g.,  CC BY- NC
• Share Alike e.g.  CC BY-SA 

These more restricted licences do limit how the data can be reused.

 Additional information is available from the Creative Commons website.

2. Other Open Licences

• Open Government Licence
• Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By)
• Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL)
• Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL).
•  Commonly used Software licences and summaries 

The Data Curation Centre have a useful guide  How to license Research Data. if you are reusing datasets with different licences, the OpenMinTed Licence Compatibility Matrix will help you check if the licences are compatible. TheOpen Minted licence tool is still in Beta so use it as a guide and if you need any advice re licences, email repository@abertay.ac.uk.

If you use other people's data to generate a new dataset to you must always acknowledge the original data source just as you would cite any other primary source such as an article, book, image or website. Citing datasets is important  because it:

• gives credit to the creators of the original datasets;
• promotes data reproducibility;
• allows funders to track the impact and reuse of data arising form their funded studies;
• encourages the citation of data as the normal rather than the exception;
• increases the discoverability.

Usually the elements of a data citation will include:

• Author/Creators;
• Year of publication;
• Title;
• Publisher (i.e. the data repository);
• Version or edition if applicable;
• Permanent identifier for dataset e.g.,  doi.

 An example of a dataset deposited in the Dryad repository  is: 

 Cuthill, Innes C. et al. (2017), Data from: Optimizing countershading camouflage, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rd47f

More information on citing data is available in How to Cite Data Sets and link to Publications available from the Data Curation Centre.