Sharing & Reusing DataData lifecycle stages for Share & Disseminate and Publish & Reuse include Data Sharing, Open Access, Data Use Agreements, Intellectual Property, Scholarly Products, Preprints and Publishing, and Data Repositories.

Data sharing is essential for expedited translation of research results into knowledge, products and procedures to improve human health.

In the last decade, it has become increasingly common for researchers to make their data available to others when they complete a study. This is usually referred to as data sharing or data publishing. Data sharing is growing mostly due to recent data policies from journals and funders. This section will help you:

Top Things You Need to Know

Journal Requirements

Sharing data in a repository
  • Many journals require that published articles be accompanied by the underlying research data
  • Data sharing policies often are found in the instructions for authors
  • Be sure to determine if your journal specifies where and how you should share your data.

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Confidentiality

Comply with IRB and Informed Consent

Intellectual Property

Understand data, copyright, and licensing

Review Intellectual Property to understand:

  • Sharing data that you have produced or collected yourself
  • Sharing data that you have collected from other sources
  • Applying appropriate licenses to your shared work

Data Use Agreements

Controlling the use of research data
  • A Data Use Agreement (DUA) should be used when transmitting or receiving any data and there is a need to control the use, transfer, storage, and/or disclosure of the data.
  • For example, a DUA would be required when transferring human subjects data, even it is de-identified, to ensure compliance with the signed consent forms and that appropriate information security measures are in place at the receiving institution.
  • The Office for Sponsored Programs and Office of Research Administration are the authorized DUA signatories for Harvard

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NIH Data Sharing Policy & Public Access Policy

Policies for open science

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a number of policies related to public access and data sharing, including: 

  • Public Access Policy: Requires investigators funded by the NIH to submit their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts to PubMed Central
  • Data Management and Sharing Policy: Requires awardees to manage and share data as outlined in approved plans

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