Open access to research data in electronic theses and dissertations: an overview

Abstract

International audiencePurpose– Print theses and dissertations have regularly been submitted together with complementary material, such as maps, tables, speech samples, photos or videos, in various formats and on different supports. In the digital environment of open repositories and open data, these research results could become a rich source of research results and data sets, for reuse and other exploitation. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– After introducing electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) into the context of eScience, the paper investigates some aspects that impact the availability and openness of data sets and other supplemental files related to ETD (system architecture, metadata and data retrieval, legal aspects).Findings– These items are part of the so-called “small data” of eScience, with a wide range of contents and formats. Their heterogeneity and their link to ETD need specific approaches to data curation and management, with specific metadata and identifiers and with specific services, workflows and systems. One size may not fit for all but it seems appropriate to separate text and data files. Regarding copyright and licensing, data sets must be evaluated carefully but should not be processed and disseminated under the same conditions as the related PhD theses. Some examples are presented.Research limitations/implications– The paper concludes with recommendations for further investigation and development to foster open access to research results produced along with PhD theses.Originality/value– ETDs are an important part of the content of open repositories. Yet, their potential as a gateway to underlying research results has not really been explored so far

Figshare: a universal repository for academic resource sharing?

“…Scholars can use the web to disseminate electronic resources, including software, datasets, internal reports, and digitised art and cultural artefacts (Schubert et al, 2013;Schopfel et al, 2014). In genetics and environmental science, for example, datasets are significant research outputs and are often shared (Anagnostou et al, 2013).…”

Making Student Research Data Discoverable: A Pilot Program Using Dataverse

“…Fewer articles address the inclusion of supporting research data files with the submission of ETD documents. In fact, ETDs are often one of the major collections hosted in institutional repositories (Alemneh et al, 2014;Schöpfel, 2013;Song, 2007) and can be considered the "low hanging fruit" for adding value to scholarly output by linking data sets with publications (Collie & Mitt, 2011;Schöpfel et al, 2014;Ubogu & Sayed, 2008). As Schöpfel et al (2014) succinctly states,…”

Hidden Treasures: Opening Data in PhD Dissertations in Social Sciences and Humanities

“…"data that is not easily found by potential users (…) unpublished data (and) research findings and raw data that lie behind published works which are also difficult or impossible to access as time progresses" (Heidorn, 2008, pp.281 and 285). The question of research data produced along with PhD dissertation has not attracted much attention so far (see the overview by Schöpfel et al, 2014). Often, studies on data related to electronic theses and dissertations, like Song (2007), do not distinguish between text and research data and thus miss the point that these documents bear hidden treasures waiting to be discovered, disseminated, and re-used.…”