Using research data – how to cite it?
Library Research Data Guide contains now advices on how to use research data and what is the proper way to cite it. We interviewed Library Publication Services team leader Päivi Kanerva about using research data.
Team leader Päivi Kanerva and information specialist Leena Tonttila
What is the purpose of the guidelines for data citation?
”Citing data is as important part of proper academic conduct as citing literature. Practices in data citation have varied a lot. In some disciplines, there has been quite specific guidelines about data citations. In other disciplines. There has been no common practices for citing data, and therefore data citations might have been very insufficient. The purpose of the guidelines is to unify these practices and make data citation easier and more natural.”
Why is it so important to have unified data citations?
”Research results should be verifiable years after the actual research. Well-formed citations should indicate what data has been collected and where it is archived.”
What has been the basis of the guidelines in Research Data Guide?
”We are following a road map, provided by Finnish Committee for Research Data. The road map is based on international FAIR principles (findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability). The basic idea is that research data should be easily findable and that it should be reusable for future research. Findability and reusability is assured best, if the data is machine-readable.”
You mentioned reusability of research data. Do you mean that a researcher should be able to use data collected by other researchers?
”Yes, indeed, this is just an application of the principles of open science. When you are using data from other researchers, it is especially important to make citations, so that the collector of the data will get the merit they deserve.”
Is it easy to find research data that could be freely reused?
”There probably are differences between disciplines. In natural and social sciences there has most likely been data archives for a very long time. In many disciplines belonging to humanities, researchers haven’t perhaps understood that they are using data, because their research data has been of a qualitative kind. Of course, there are remarkable differences between different human sciences. For instance, in linguistics data archives have been a more common sight.”
Researchers should then save their research data to some archive?
”Certainly. Archives usually create a unique DOI identifier for research data. Afterwards, a set of research data can always be identified by its DOI. For example, a regular webpage containing research data can vanish, but with DOI the data from that page can still be retrieved. Furthermore, the unique identifier ensures that research data will always remain in its original form so that it cannot be changed afterwards.”
Are there any other benefits for archiving research data?
”Archives often create metadata for research data, which makes it easier to find proper data. If research data can be found easily, it will collect more citations, which is always positive for a researcher.”
More information:
Data citing on Research Data Guide
openutu@utu.fi
Interviewer: Ilmari Jauhiainen
Photo: Krista Voitto