Preserve and Share Data with the OSF Data Archive
The Open Science Framework (OSF) is not HIPAA compliant, and users should not upload or share any sensitive or personally identifiable health information on OSF.
Like code and other materials, you can create an archived copy of your data using the OSF. There are several steps to effectively archive and share your data on the OSF.
The OSF Data Archive is a service designed to help you preserve and share your research data in a robust, citable format. This guide walks you through the entire process—from preparing a dataset for submission to managing your records once they are archived.
Contents
- What is the OSF Data Archive?
- Preparing Your Data
- Start a New Data Archive Submission
- Post-Submission: Managing Your Archived Data
- FAQs
1. What is the OSF Data Archive?
Purpose: The OSF Data Archive provides a secure, long-term storage solution for your research data while promoting transparency and reproducibility.
You can read more about increasing the discoverability of your shared data here.
- What you can do:
- Create and publish a data record with a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- Share your data immediately or set an embargo of up to four years.
- Comply with funder and publisher mandates for data sharing and preservation.
Tip: If you are new to OSF, you may find it helpful to review Getting Started with OSF before using the OSF Data Archive.
2. Preparing Your Data
Before starting your data archive submission, ensure you have:
- OSF Account – You must be logged in to your OSF account. If you do not have one, create an OSF account for free.
- Data Prepared – Verify that your data files are ready, documented, and meet any ethical or privacy requirements. This includes de-identifying any participant data. If you want your data to undergo blind peer review, you will also want to remove contributor information from any data files.
- Recognize the limits of the OSF Data Archive
- Dataset size limits: The default data storage limitation for the Data Archiving and Sharing Template is 5GB.
- Data Sensitivity: This template is not designed for sensitive or personally identifiable data that requires enhanced security measures. Researchers working with sensitive datasets should consult their institutional guidelines on data sharing.
- Responsibility for Compliance: The template provides a framework, but the responsibility for ensuring compliance with specific legal, ethical, or institutional policies remains with the researcher.
- No Built-in Data Curation: The OSF Data Archive is for permanently sharing your data. Data will only be withdrawn in cases of breached personal data or copyright violations that should not have been shared. While the template assists in structuring data for sharing, it does not include a dedicated service for professional data curation.
- Archive an OSF Project or start from scratch – There are two ways to archive your data on OSF. This guide includes the steps for both methods.
- Start from scratch
- You do not need an OSF Project first in order to create a data archiving submission with this method.
- You can select up to five data files to archive during submission.
- Archive an existing OSF Project
- You need to have an OSF Project first.
- All files that are already included in the project that your are archiving will also be archived in the "Files" section of the registration.
- Start from scratch
3. Start a New Data Archive Submission
Start Archiving a Dataset from Scratch
Navigate to the OSF Data Archive by visiting https://osf.io/registries/dataarchive/discover. The OSF workflow used to archive your data is called "registration", and you will see this term throughout your submission process.
Click “Add New” in the navigation bar from the OSF Data Archive home page.
The “Add New Registration” page will appear.
Click “No” for “Step 1: Do you have content for registration in an existing OSF project?”, indicating that you do not have an existing OSF project or component to create the new registration form.
The OSF Data Archiving and Sharing Template will be selected by default.
Click Create draft, and you will be taken to the data archive draft submission. Now, you can begin filling in the metadata related to your data, and an email containing the link to this draft will be sent to your OSF affiliated email address.
Registration Metadata
The first section will ask you to enter basic metadata (Title, Description, etc.) about your data and research. This metadata is used to increase your data's findability.
Adding, Editing, and Removing Contributors
You can review your contributors directly on your data using the Contributors widget. The widget has 6 key components:
- The name of the contributor associated with the registration.
- The permission level of the contributor. Click the dropdown and select the appropriate permission level. You can read more about permission levels [here <link to guide>].
- If the contributor will be included in the bibliographic citation when submitted. Contributors with a blue check mark icon are included in the citation.
- Employment and education information of the contributor, if provided. Click the down arrow to access this information.
- Remove the contributor from the registration. (Read More)
- Add a contributor to the registration. (Read More)
Add a Contributor
Press the blue circle with the plus symbol.
The “Add Contributor” widget will open.
To add a contributor that has an OSF account, click inside the search field. Type in the contributor’s name, GUID, or ORCID ID, then click “Search”.
Once added, a success notification will populate in the upper right screen (1), the green plus sign will become a gray check (2), and they will be listed in the “Current Contributors” pane (3). The added contributor will receive an email informing them they have been added with a link to the draft registration.
Confirm with your contributor(s) that they were successfully added. Several contributors may have the same name and OSF does not share emails for privacy reasons. Important: Contributors cannot be edited after the registration is submitted.
Remove a Contributor
Select the red “X” in the same row as the contributor to be removed.
Note: At least one Administrator contributor must be associated with a draft registration.
A confirmation window will appear. Click “Remove contributor”.
A green success notification will appear and the contributor will be removed from the “Contributors” list.
Saving
Your draft is automatically saved so you and/or your collaborators can return later. The template autosaves every few seconds when updates are made. You can exit the template and return to the draft at any time.
Data Archiving Template Questions
- Data assets
- When beginning a data archive submission from scratch, this field is your opportunity to include up to five data files.
- Rights to share data files
- You must confirm that you have the appropriate rights and permissions, along with the other listed contributors, to share data files publicly and to archive it on OSF.
- Sensitive data or personal identifying information removed
- You must confirm that you have removed any sensitive information or information that is personally identifiable from any data files.
- (Optional) Codebook, data dictionary, or data documentation
- You can include any relevant codebooks or other documentation
- (Optional) Programs and/or software required to open data files or supporting documentation
- You can include or reference an software required to run your data
- Data as a part of a data management and sharing plan
- Describe whether this data is referenced in a published data management plan
- Data referenced in a paper or other type of public report
- Describe whether this data is referenced in a published paper or other report
Now that you've completed your draft, learn how to Submit Your Draft.
Start Archiving Data from an Existing Project or Component
Navigate to the OSF Data Archive by visiting https://osf.io/registries/dataarchive/discover
Click “Add New” in the navigation bar from the OSF Data Archive home page.
The “Add New Registration” page will appear.
Click Yes for “Step 1: Do you have content for registration in an existing OSF project?”, indicating that you do have an existing OSF project or component to create the new registration from.
A dropdown list of your projects and components will appear.
Select the project or component you would like to create the registration from. This list will only show projects or components that you have admin permissions to.
Click Create draft, and you will be taken to the data archive draft submission. Now, you can begin filling in the metadata related to your data, and an email containing the link to this draft will be sent to your OSF affiliated email address.
Registration Metadata
The first section will ask you to enter basic metadata (Title, Description, etc.) about your data and research. This metadata is used to increase your data's findability.
Adding, Editing, and Removing Contributors
You can review your contributors directly on your data using the Contributors widget. The widget has 6 key components:
- The name of the contributor associated with the registration.
- The permission level of the contributor. Click the dropdown and select the appropriate permission level. You can read more about permission levels [here <link to guide>].
- If the contributor will be included in the bibliographic citation when submitted. Contributors with a blue check mark icon are included in the citation.
- Employment and education information of the contributor, if provided. Click the down arrow to access this information.
- Remove the contributor from the registration. (Read More)
- Add a contributor to the registration. (Read More)
Add a Contributor
Press the blue circle with the plus symbol.
The “Add Contributor” widget will open.
To add a contributor that has an OSF account, click inside the search field. Type in the contributor’s name, GUID, or ORCID ID, then click “Search”.
Once added, a success notification will populate in the upper right screen (1), the green plus sign will become a gray check (2), and they will be listed in the “Current Contributors” pane (3). The added contributor will receive an email informing them they have been added with a link to the draft registration.
Confirm with your contributor(s) that they were successfully added. Several contributors may have the same name and OSF does not share emails for privacy reasons. Important: Contributors cannot be edited after the registration is submitted.
Remove a Contributor
Select the red “X” in the same row as the contributor to be removed.
Note: At least one Administrator contributor must be associated with a draft registration.
A confirmation window will appear. Click “Remove contributor”.
A green success notification will appear and the contributor will be removed from the “Contributors” list.
Saving
Your draft is automatically saved so you and/or your collaborators can return later. The template autosaves every few seconds when updates are made. You can exit the template and return to the draft at any time.
Data Archiving Template Questions
- Data assets
- When beginning a data archive submission from scratch, this field is your opportunity to include up to five data files.
- All files that are already included in the project that your are archiving will also be archived in the "Files" section of the registration.
- Rights to share data files
- You must confirm that you have the appropriate rights and permissions, along with the other listed contributors, to share data files publicly and to archive it on OSF.
- Sensitive data or personal identifying information removed
- You must confirm that you have removed any sensitive information or information that is personally identifiable from any data files.
- (Optional) Codebook, data dictionary, or data documentation
- You can include any relevant codebooks or other documentation
- (Optional) Programs and/or software required to open data files or supporting documentation
- You can include or reference an software required to run your data
- Data as a part of a data management and sharing plan
- Describe whether this data is referenced in a published data management plan
- Data referenced in a paper or other type of public report
- Describe whether this data is referenced in a published paper or other report
Now that you've completed your draft, learn how to Submit Your Draft.
4. Post-Submission: Managing Your Archived Data
After submitting, you’ll be redirected to your OSF Data Archive record.
A. Check Submission Status
- You can see the status (e.g., Under Review, Embargoed, Public) in the top banner of your submission.
B. Add Enhanced Metadata Using Open Practice Badges
- The Open Practice Badges workflows enable you to demonstrate the lifecycle of your research activity.
- Use DOIs to associate your additional data, paper, code, and other materials. These will be included in the metadata of your dataset.
C. Cite Your Archived Data
- Once your archive is published, a citation with a DOI is generated for referencing in manuscripts or conferences.
- Copy and paste the provided citation into your bibliography or share it with collaborators.
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Can I embargo my data?
Yes, you can select an embargo period if needed. Check your institutional or funder guidelines, then set the embargo of up to four years during or after submission.
2. Can I edit my data after submission?
Responses to the template questions can be edited using the Update Registrations workflow. The data files cannot be edited at this time.
3. Are there file type limitations?
All file types are supported, though some archived files may not render in the browser. If you encounter any issues uploading specific formats, contact support.
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