This policy defines the scope and nature of the datasets published in the data archive as well as the supported model for access and licensing.
Key points:
1) The 4TU.ResearchData archive is primarily aiming at data from all fields and subjects in science and engineering but covers also subjects in the life sciences (a nominal list of subjects is appended).
2) The data archive is specialized in preserving netCDF data and offers additional services for this specific data type.
3) 4TU.ResearchData prefers data that can reside in the public domain, but is reviewing its restricted access functionality in order to provide better support for confidential data.
4) Currently, 4TU.ResearchData is providing a bespoke license that is similar to the CC-BY-NC licence, but is working on a feature by which depositors will be able to select a licence from a pre-defined list.
The mission of 4TU.ResearchData is to provide long-term access to technical-scientific research data to enable discovery and reuse of these data. By making the Data Collection Policy available, we want to demonstrate 4TU.ResearchData’s commitment in this area, and inform the research community of the guiding principles and practices, and challenges we face in our data collection development.
The policy is not meant to cover issues on archival storage or safety and security of the data we preserve. Those issues are addressed in 4TU.ResearchData’s Preservation Plan (currently under review).
You can read the Data Collection Policy here.
If you have any comments on the policy document, we would be delighted to hear from you.