Planning and data sharing may not seem like a good pair of topics at first glance. However, choices made at the start of research can complicate or prevent data sharing so it is best to work out your plans for data sharing before the research starts, at the planning stage. 

Plan

Planning for your data is an essential step. Data management and sharing (DMS) plans articulate and track information such as data size, variety, security, storage, and sharing. A good plan can help you allocate resources for efficiency and success as well as funder compliance. Well managed also data requires less time and preparation to share. 

Improve research quality and impact

A data management plan can reduce mistakes, prepare the data for analysis, and increase reproducibility.

Meet ethical and legal requirements

Many research institutions and funding agencies have ethical and legal requirements for how data must be managed. A data management plan can help you to ensure that your practices comply with requirements.

Save time and money

A well-managed data set is easier to use and analyze. This can save you time and money, especially if you are working on a large or complex project.

Planning resources

There is no "one way" to manage data but there are better ways. Learn more about data management, draft a plan, or book an appointment with librarians who specialize in data management and funder requirements.

Share

Research thrives on collaboration and openness. Sharing your research data unlocks its immense potential and helps others replicate and verify your findings. Sharing research data is not just beneficial, it's increasingly expected. Funding agencies and institutions are recognizing its importance, making data sharing a requirement for grants and publications. Current recommendations recommend using a data repository to ensures that shared data is assigned a persistent identifier, such as a DOI, and is citable and discoverable. 

Improved transparency and reproducibility

Data sharing allows other researchers to examine and replicate research findings, which can help to ensure that science is transparent and honest.

Increased collaboration

Data sharing can help to foster collaboration between researchers from different institutions and disciplines.

Greater impact

Data sharing can increase the impact of research by making it more visible and accessible to other researchers, policymakers, and the public. 

  • DataShare logo with the Iowa State University Wordmark

    DataShare

    DataShare provides Iowa State with professional data publishing services — every data set is shared with a reuse license, DOI, and links to associated publications. Their staff also assist with locating and using other data repositories.

Find a data repository

Data is best shared where it will be found. Look for a disciplinary repository built by and for other people in your field, or contact DataShare for recommendations and assistance.

Sharing considerations

If you work with data that is sensitive, confidential, or proprietary then additional thought and consideration must be made to ensure that research data is shared safely and securely as allowed by the applicable regulatory requirements, sponsor requirements, and other applicable policy or legal requirements. The Policies and Compliance section has more information and resources to guide you, including information on controlled access data repositories, humans subjects research, export control, and data security.