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Indiana University School of Medicine

Ruth Lilly Medical Library

Research Data Services

This guide describes the services offered by the Ruth Lilly Medical Library for the management, sharing, and preservation of research data at the IU School of Medicine.

Data Sharing Considerations

The following questions can help you navigate the options when considering where/how to share your data:

  1. Where will my research community go to find data?
  2. Is the repository reputable?
  3. Do I receive a persistent identifier for the data I deposit (e.g., DOI, handle)?
  4. Is the repository/tool easy to use?
  5. Can you connect your publication to the deposited data?

Pathways for Sharing Research Data

A use case-based resource meant to support researchers by clearly identifying options for sharing research data. In this document, research data sharing is limited to sharing for reuse via deposit into one or more data repository(ies). Commonly, this is done to meet funder or publisher requirements or to extend open research practices. Ideally, this guidance is considered during the proposal development process. When used during the planning phases, specifically to support the creation of Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMSP), researchers will be better prepared to meet funder obligations and manage data for sharing as planned.

DataWorks Repository

IUI DataWorks is university sponsored repository for preserving and sharing digital research data. This repository makes research data produced by researchers at the campus available for discovery and reuse. As such, DataWorks is a tool that can be used to fulfill requirements (from funding agencies or other groups) for data sharing.

If you have additional questions about this tool or are interested in submitting datasets to DataWorks, please contact dataserv@iu.edu.

For IUI's repository of publications, including journal articles, presentations, and other scholarly products, visit http://scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.edu.

IUI Open Access

Data Journals

Data journals are "scholarly publications of searchable metadata documents describing particular online accessible data sets, or a group of data sets, published in accordance to the standard academic practice." (Chavan and Penev, 2011). These publications describe datasets themselves rather than original research findings and the journals in which they are published are often open access and peer reviewed. Two examples of data journals are listed below.

These journals offer another mechanism for increasing visibility of research data that complements depositing datasets into a repository, like IUI DataWorks. Contact a medical librarian for more information about data journals and with further questions.