Need a DOI for your dataset?

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A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique identifier that you can use to enable your research data to be cited just like bibliographic references or other scholarly resources.

Many funding agencies (e.g., NIH) and publishers (e.g., Nature) direct researchers to make data available in repositories that support assignment of persistent identifiers such as DOIs. In addition, a DOI can help research data to meet FAIR principles.

Most data repositories will assign a DOI to your dataset upon deposit. You have many repository options. Contact Research Data Services if you’d like help selecting a repository or depositing your data in the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive.

What to look for in a repository

  • Confirm that the repository will assign a DOI upon deposit
  • Follows FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable)
  • Adheres to funder or publisher requirements (e.g., NSF guidelines, NIH guidelines))
  • Allows you to use the metadata that best fits your needs and meets disciplinary best practices
  • Accommodates the size and structure of your data

Find and evaluate repositories

Rice Digital Scholarship Archive

Fondren Library supports the publication of datasets created by members of the Rice community via the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive (RDSA). A unique Rice Research Data collection accommodates data-specific metadata needs. DOIs are assigned to datasets to facilitate public discovery and citation.

Features include:

  • Free to members of the Rice community
  • DOI assignment
  • Preservation of  data using best practices such as file integrity checks and redundant, geographically distributed storage.
  • Library support with data description and management

Learn more about sharing data via the RDSA on the library’s website.

Submit your data to the RDSA using this webform.

 

Adapted from Princeton Research Data Service’s “Where and how can I publish my dataset?”