This page explains how you can share your collection with parties who are not involved in your research project. If you need to add people who collaborate with you on the research (collection), see the Roles and permissions page.
DOI
Always use the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to share and refer to your collection (for example, in articles, dissertations, or email). A DOI is a persistent identifier and thus will always reference your collection, even when the URL changes. Never use the URL to refer to your collection.
Sharing the DOI:
- Go to the project landing page and click on the 'share and permissions' button on the top right.
- Copy the DOI that is visible under the heading 'Share link'.
The DOI is reserved at the moment of collection creation and will not change during the publishing or archiving process. This means that the DOI can already be shared before a collection is published or archived, but will become active at the moment of publishing/archiving.
DOI & Data Sharing Collections
People seeking access to a Data Sharing Collection (DSC) can follow the DOI and start the appropriate procedures to gain access to the content, based on the chosen access level.
DOI & closed access collections
The content of the closed access Data Acquisition Collections (DAC) and Research Documentation Collections (RDC) are not meant to be shared outside the research project. Use a Data Sharing Collection (DSC) instead. A DSC provides a choice of access levels and licences/Data Use Agreements that ensure correct access management and prevent data leaks.
However, you can share the DOI to refer to the location and, if selected, to the metadata of the collection, thereby increasing the FAIRness of the collection.
Sharing with reviewers
The RDR offers the option to (anonymously) share a Data Sharing Collection (DSC) with editors and reviewers before publication of the collection. During the 'external review' stage of the publication process of a Data Sharing Collection you can share a link with editors and reviewers in such a way that you remain anonymous to the reviewers and vice versa before publication (see 'Double anonymity' below). They will get viewing rights to the collection, which means that they can download and open all files.
Share the reviewer URL only with reviewers! Sharing with other parties is often considered a data leak.
Sharing the reviewer URL:
- Make sure your Data Sharing Collection is in the 'external review' stage of the publication process.
- Go to the project landing page and click on the 'share and permissions' button on the top right.
- Copy the reviewer URL by clicking the button 'Get reviewer access URL'.
The reviewer URL remains active as long as the collection remains in the 'external review' status. Once you change the status to either 'editable' or 'published' the URL becomes inactive and reviewer(s) no longer have access.
In the external review status, the following measures are implemented to allow for double-anonymous peer review.
A reviewer who uses the reviewer access URL…
- …gets to see the following 'reviewer access note':
- …cannot see the following metadata fields (under the Metadata tab): Authors, Contact name, Contact email, Managers, Contributors, Viewers, Associated publications, Associated data, Associated tools, and Associated pre-registrations;
- …cannot access the ABOUT.txt file so that they cannot see the metadata mentioned in the previous bullet;
- …cannot view the information under the History tab;
- …can download and view all folders and files in the collection, but cannot edit data or metadata nor change the status of the collection.
On the other side, all parties involved in the creation of the collection (i.e. managers, contributors, and viewers)…
- …cannot see the name of the reviewer, but they see “reviewer” added to the viewers of their collection and see all actions performed by “reviewer” under the History tab.