Training young researchers for an open future
Trieste, 8th of July 2015
Ignasi Labastida Juan
Oficina de Difusió del Coneixement
CRAI Universitat de Barcelona
Introduction to open research data
context
how we arrived here
Data deluge
Examples of big data:
The LHC experiments produce about 15 
petabytes of raw data each year
200 Gb for the human genome sequencer
Any researcher collects or generate data at any 
level
open movement
open access declarations
open content licenses
open educational resources
open data
open government
open science
open research
J. C. Burgelman, European Commission, Science 2.0
openness
looking for a definition
Defining Openness
“Open means anyone can freely access, use, 
modify, and share for any purpose (subject, at 
most, to requirements that preserve provenance 
and openness).”
“Open data and content can be freely used, 
modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose”
http://opendefinition.org/
According to the BOAI definition
“By open access to this literature, we mean its free 
availability on the public internet, permitting any users 
to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or 
link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for 
indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them 
for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, 
or technical barriers other than those inseparable from 
gaining access to the internet itself. The only 
constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the 
only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give 
authors control over the integrity of their work and the 
right to be properly acknowledged and cited”
research data
looking for a definition
Definitions of research data
the recorded factual material commonly accepted in 
the scientific community as necessary to validate 
research findings (NCSU)
data in the form of facts, observations, images, 
computer program results, recordings, measurements 
or experiences on which an argument, theory, test or 
hypothesis, or another research output is based (ANDS)
That which is collected, observed, or created in a 
digital form, for purposes of analysing to produce 
original research results (UoE)
Types of research data
● collected
● observed
● created
● raw
● cleaned
● processed
research data policies
recommendations and requirements
research data policies
● Institutional
● National
● International
● where to store data
● which data
● how to share data
UCL research data policy
UCL considers the research data generated by its 
members as a valuable research output, an asset to 
the institution and a critical contribution to the 
knowledge economy.
The purpose of this Policy is to provide a 
framework to define the responsibilities of all UCL 
members and to guide researchers and students in 
how to manage the data, enabling research data to 
be maintained and preserved as a first class 
research object and made available to widest 
possible audience for the highest possible impact.
UCL research data policy
This policy is intended to ensure that research data 
created as part of the research process are:
● Accurate, complete, authentic and reliable;
● Attributable and citable;
● Identifiable, retrievable and available with minimal 
barriers;
● Secure from loss and degradation;
● Retained for a minimum of ten years after publication or 
public release;
● Compliant with legal obligations, ethical responsibilities 
and the rules of funding bodies.
RCUK common principles on data policy
● Publicly funded research data are a public good, produced in the public 
interest, which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as 
possible in a timely and responsible manner.
● Institutional and project specific data management policies and plans should 
be in accordance with relevant standards and community best practice. Data 
with acknowledged long-term value should be preserved and remain 
accessible and usable for future research.
● To enable research data to be discoverable and effectively re-used by 
others, sufficient metadata should be recorded and made openly available to 
enable other researchers to understand the research and re-use potential of 
the data. Published results should always include information on how to 
access the supporting data.
● RCUK recognises that there are legal, ethical and commercial constraints on 
release of research data. To ensure that the research process is not damaged 
by inappropriate release of data, research organisation policies and practices 
should ensure that these are considered at all stages in the research 
process.
●
RCUK common principles on data policy
● To ensure that research teams get appropriate recognition for the 
effort involved in collecting and analysing data, those who undertake 
Research Council funded work may be entitled to a limited period of 
privileged use of the data they have collected to enable them to 
publish the results of their research. The length of this period varies 
by research discipline and, where appropriate, is discussed further in 
the published policies of individual Research Councils.
● In order to recognise the intellectual contributions of researchers who 
generate, preserve and share key research datasets, all users of 
research data should acknowledge the sources of their data and abide 
by the terms and conditions under which they are accessed.
● It is appropriate to use public funds to support the management and 
sharing of publicly-funded research data. To maximise the research 
benefit which can be gained from limited budgets, the mechanisms for 
these activities should be both efficient and cost-effective in the use 
of public funds.
●
Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Research Data in Horizon 2020 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/oa_pilot/h2020-hi-oa-pilot-guide_en.pdf
horizon 2020
data pilot at horizon 2020
● the data, including associated metadata, needed to 
validate the results presented in scientific publications;
● other data, including associated metadata, as specified and 
within the deadlines laid down in the data management 
plan.
Data management plan: 
●  early deliverable within six months of the project
Two steps: to deposit the research data into a research data 
repository and to enable reuse by using licenses (CC BY/CC0)
Costs relating to the implementation of the pilot will be 
eligible
data pilot adressed at
● Future and Emerging Technologies
● Research infrastructures – part e-Infrastructures
● Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Information and 
Communication Technologies
● Societal Challenge: 'Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy' – part Smart 
cities and communities 
● Societal Challenge: 'Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency 
and Raw materials' – except raw materials 
● Societal Challenge: 'Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative 
and reflective Societies' 
● Science with and for Society
Reasons to opt out
● incompatible with the Horizon2020 obligation to protect results if 
they can reasonably be expected to be commercially or 
industrially exploited;
● incompatible with the need for confidentiality in connection with 
security issues;
● incompatible with existing rules concerning the protection of 
personal data;
● would jeopardise the achievement of the main aim of the action;
● will not generate / collect any research data;
● other legitimate reason to not take part in the Pilot 
Publishers data policy
● PLOS journals require authors to make all 
data underlying the findings described in 
their manuscript fully available without 
restriction, with rare exception.
● Copernicus Publications recommends 
depositing data that correspond to journal 
articles in reliable data repositories, 
assigning digital object identifiers, and 
properly citing data sets as individual 
contributions.
PLOS policy
● All data and related metadata underlying 
the findings reported in a submitted 
manuscript should be deposited in an 
appropriate public repository, unless 
already provided as part of the 
submitted article.
 
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/data-availability
managing research data
what to do with data
to take into account
● how to describe research data 
● where to store data
● how to cite data
● planning
describing research data
● Title
● Description
● Creator/Collector
● Geographic location
● Time reference
● Terms of use
storing research data
● locally
● externally
and posting?
http://www.re3data.org/
Trusted repositories?
Five principles from the Data Seal of Approval
● Data can be found on the Internet 
● Data are accessible, while taking into account relevant 
legislation with regard to personal information and 
intellectual property of the data
● Data are available in a usable format
● Data are reliable
● Data can be referred to
http://datasealofapproval.org/en/information/guidelines/
Liability for managing and 
sharing research data
who is liable for what
Recommendations and Roadpmaps
● RECODE
http://recodeproject.eu/
● Roadmap for Research Data from the League of 
European Research Universities (LERU)
http://www.leru.org/files/publications/AP14_LERU_Ro
admap_for_Research_data_final.pdf
Stakeholdres
● Funders
● Higher Education/Research Institutions
● Data managers
● Publishers
● Researchers
opening research data
how to open it
opening research data
real open research data
http://5stardata.info/
some answers at http://gbonanome.github.io/opendatabingo/
Ignasi Labastida Juan
ilabastida@ub.edu
@ignasi