Submitting to Dataverse
The York University Dataverse supports the discoverability and accessibility of York-authored research data through the provision of a viable and supported general institutional data repository that can appropriately display, describe, and preserve York-authored research data and associated documentation. The York University Dataverse will accept datasets and research data that have been created or co-created by York University faculty, graduate students, postdocs, staff, librarians, and affiliated researchers and research groups. Faculty-sponsored deposits of datasets created or used by undergraduate students may be permitted and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
The York University Dataverse accepts finalized datasets that are ready for publication and sharing and is not an appropriate venue for storing working data or confidential data. Datasets must be deposited for open, public access, which means that anyone may download and reuse all or part of a Dataset in accordance with the license indicated by the Depositor. Researchers depositing finalized datasets intended for publication are strongly encouraged to include documentation of their data, data collection, data analysis and/or associated code/software (i.e., ReadMe file, data dictionary, codebook, etc.).
Confidential and sensitive data
The York University Dataverse does not accept content that contains confidential or sensitive information, and it is primarily a platform for publishing and sharing datasets. It is not appropriate for the storage of highly sensitive or confidential data. Datasets must not contain information that could directly or indirectly identify a subject, except where the release of such identifying information has no potential for constituting an unwarranted invasion of privacy and/or breach of confidentiality. Data owners and depositors are solely responsible for confirming their rights to deposit and publish data. If a submission contains material from a copyright-protected source, depositors must document that they have obtained the necessary permissions from copyright owners and that third-party owned material is clearly identified and acknowledged within the content of their submission.
Curation
York University Libraries currently provides a semi-mediated data curation and publishing service to York-affiliated researchers looking to deposit with the York University Dataverse. After registering a Borealis user account and being linked to the dataset/Dataverse collection with certain permissions, researchers may then create a draft dataset/Dataverse collection, deposit the appropriate files, add the metadata, and send it in for review. Through a series of verification and curation activities, the Libraries will work with researchers to improve their data’s discoverability and reusability before it is published via the York University Dataverse.
Stewardship and preservation
York University Libraries’ objective remains the continued access and preservation of deposited datasets for the longer term. To support this objective, York University Libraries reserves the right to make multiple copies for the purposes of security, back up, and preservation. The Libraries may migrate files to any medium, format, or platform for the purposes of preservation, but will not change the content or meaning of the work. Research data files and metadata made available through the York University Dataverse will generally be retained for the lifetime of the repository as per the level 1 preservation activities described in the Borealis preservation plan.
Deaccession of datasets
Depositors may request the removal of a dataset they published within the York University Dataverse collection. Such requests should be sent to yul_rdm@yorku.ca. The Borealis administrators at the York University Libraries will review the request and any supporting information provided by the requestor and make a determination regarding the deaccession of the dataset in question. In the event that a third party requests the deaccession of a dataset, the York University Borealis administrators may consult with the depositor or data creator. York University Libraries will review the request and any supporting information provided by the requestor and make a determination regarding the deaccession of the dataset in question.
When a dataset is deaccessioned, we will send an email notification to the long-term contact person as defined in the descriptive metadata. In the event that the dataset is deaccessioned and the designated person is not reachable, the appropriate faculty or administrative unit will be notified. Whenever possible, a tombstone landing page with basic citation metadata and an explanation for the deaccession will be maintained.
For more information on the York University Dataverse terms of use, please consult our full York University Dataverse Collections Policy.
For more information on how to deposit your data with the York University Dataverse, please consult our Deposit Guidelines or our deposit submission guide.