Distinct from, but closely related to, the principle of open access to published research results is the principle of open data – that research data should be shared and publicly accessible. Open data can increase the impact of your research, make attribution easy, and build your research reputation. It also allows other scholars to verify the research conclusions, to analyze the data in ways and for purposes that the original researchers might not have considered, and to pull together data from diverse sources leading to new discoveries and outcomes.

How are you managing your research data? How will you document your data and make it discoverable by other researchers?  How long must it be retained? These are questions to which many federal agencies and other funders are now requiring answers. To ensure usability, preservation, and access to data, making a plan for managing it before beginning research is essential.

The UCSB Library can assist you with data management issues and offers tools and resources to help with creation, storage, dissemination, and preservation of your data. For more details, please consult the Research Data Management Guide.