Element 4: Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines

Element 4: Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines

Give plans and timelines for data preservation and access:

4.1 Provide the name of the repository(ies) where scientific data and metadata arising from the project will be archived.

4.2 Describe how the scientific data will be findable and identifiable.

4.3 Describe when the scientific data will be made available to other users and for how long data will be available.

Harvard Dataverse Policies

Description

Links to Harvard Dataverse Preservation Policy

Repository hosting, backups, and preservation

Harvard Library Technical Services (LTS), in collaboration with Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS), hosts the Harvard's Dataverse repository using Amazon Web Services and S3, and maintains a full backup of all data and directories using Amazon Glacier. 

FAS Research Computing at Harvard University keeps a backup of all Harvard Dataverse data and directories. This means that there are always full, recent copies of the Harvard Dataverse repository at multiple locations.

Harvard Dataverse preservation policy can be accessed here: https://support.dataverse.harvard.edu/harvard-dataverse-preservation-policy 

Data files access

Access to data files is open by default but can be mediated through a variety of features including:
Embargos

Restricted file access

Guestbooks, and 

User permissions. 

• Harvard Dataverse restricted files workflow
• Harvard Dataverse file embargo workflow
• Harvard Dataverse guestbook feature
• Harvard Dataverse roles and permissions workflow

Metadata access

HDV policy is that published dataset and file level metadata are always openly accessible.

FAIR Data Principles

Sample DMP Text for Section 4.1

Scientific data from the research/study/project will be published in Harvard Dataverse, a nonprofit, generalist data repository built with the open source Dataverse Project software and affiliated with Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science and Harvard Library. 

The Harvard Dataverse Repository is a free data repository open to all researchers from any discipline, both inside and outside of the Harvard community, to share, archive, cite, access, and explore research data. 

Data published in Harvard Dataverse are described according to standard metadata schemas, exposed to the web via OAI-PMH and schema.org, assigned DOIs automatically, and backed up regularly to Amazon Glacier and Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Research Computing servers. 

Data published in Harvard Dataverse will be accessible to the research community for the long-term.