When it is time to describe research data in the national catalogue, you need to prepare some things before you start. This page includes a guide to provide you step-by-step help in this process. You can also find answers to frequently asked questions on describing research data in the system Doris and on sharing research data via the SND catalogue.
The Swedish national data service (SND) provides and maintains a national catalogue for research data. Doris is the name of the service that researchers can use to describe research data in the national data catalogue.
When the description of a dataset has been submitted, it will go through a review process before it is published in the catalogue.
Describe research data in Doris
Log in to "My account" at SND to describe research data in Doris.
SND catalogue
Search for research data in the national catalogue from the Swedish national data service.
The process of describing data in Doris consists of seven sections. It is a good idea to start preparing the metadata before beginning your description in Doris. This will save time and make the task easier.
Coordinate the Swedish and English description. They are displayed on different pages in the SND catalogue and the reader needs to know, whether there are any differences in the content of the English and Swedish versions of a data description. It is OK to write a shortened description in Swedish, but please make sure you refer to the English descriptions for the details missing in the Swedish one.
You can choose keywords from lists of controlled vocabularies, and you can add keywords of your own choice. The more keywords you use, the easier it will be for search engines to find the data description.
If applicable, specify the geographic area of your study.
Organise and describe your data sets in Swedish and English.
Please, add a reference to the publications that include your data and make sure you include DOI and other persistent identifiers. You may add further publications over time.
PID for researchers and authors
Enclose one or several documentation files with descriptions of your research data. This can be, for example, one or several text files. The documentation files are important since they contain information that is crucial for others to understand and reuse the research data.
Any material that is the basis for scientific analysis counts as research data. For example, research data can be:
From an archival perspective, documents as defined in the Swedish "Freedom of the Press Act" are research data. This means that everything attached to a medium that may be experienced repeatedly is such a document.
Any research data generated within the boundaries of current legislation and good research practice can be described in the SND catalogue. However, please note that research data that include personal data may NOT be uploaded to the SND. This data must be stored locally at Umeå University.
The library reviews research data and its description according to the SND policy for reviewing data and metadata. How long it takes to publish a catalogue entry depends on how well the research data is documented. Please be prepared that it may take some time.
SND Policy for Review of Data and Metadata
A data description is reviewed by two specialists, who perform their review independently of each other:
It is usually necessary to review the data description several times before publishing. This process is similar to reviewing a manuscript prior to publication in a scholarly journal.
It is possible to delay publishing a data description until your article is published by a scholarly journal. It can be an advantage, however, to register your data in good time before it is due to be published. You will then be prepared if the publishing of research data needs to be synchronised with the publication of the corresponding article.
The data set will not be published until the researcher communicates that the manuscript has been accepted for publication. If the review of the data description is finished while an article is still in the review process SND will withhold its publication until the researcher approves it. This will also be the case if the research data is going through a closed review for a scholarly journal.
Research data without personal data
SND can store research data that does not contain personal data or other protectable information. As a researcher, you can upload data files of up to 500 MB directly via Doris. If you have data files larger than 500 MB, you can get help uploading them. In this case, please contact SND.
From a long-term perspective, all research data are to be stored locally at the higher education institution responsible for the research. SND will not accept research data in the future and will only publish metadata in their catalogue.
Research data containing personal data
Research data containing personal data can only be described in the SND catalogue. The storage of sensitive data must take place in a secure storage location at the higher education institution where the research has been carried out.
It is perfectly acceptable to publish a research data description in the SND catalogue even if you have already submitted your data to another repository. It can actually be an advantage to do so. Please make sure the metadata description in the catalogue of the SND is coordinated that in the other repository so that the information corresponds. Also make sure you link the posts in other repositories by including persistent identifiers for your research data, a machine readable DOI for example.
You will find further information on how to prepare research data before their publication in the catalogue at the SND website.