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Research Data Management in LUT Universities: Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Prior to the research

Where can I find research datasets?

You can search datasets, for example, using the following services:

Where can I find examples of the data management plans?

Data management plans (DMPs) can be found from following services:

During the research

How do I cite a dataset collected by someone else?

The mandatory parts of a data citation are:

  • Persistent identifier (PID), to make the data findable online (HTTP, URI)
  • Creator(s), the person(s) or entities who/which have produced the data
  • Date of publishing, the date or time when the data is stored to the archive
  • Title, name of the dataset
  • Host institution, e.g. unique dentification of an archive or repository where the dataset is stored

Optional elements are version, resource type (like data format), licence, embargo, ORCID (researcher identifier)

An example: Männistö, Ruut (University of Tampere): Tampereen yliopiston opiskelijoiden henkilökohtainen tiedonhallinta 2017. Version 1.0 (2019-07-09). Finnish Social Science Data Archive FSD [distributor]. [cited 5.9.2019]. Available: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3249

Read more about data citations from the national recommendation document "Tracing data : Data citation roadmap for Finland >
More examples how to make a data citation in various cases is found from the Finnish Social Science Data Archive website >

How do I licence the data that I have collected?

In general the recommended licence for datasets is CC BY 4.0. Read more about CC licences and terms from the Creative Commons website. In case you don't store the dataset but only the descriptive metadata, please notice that all the metadata is open and licenced using the CC0 licence.

Where do you store the data?

The data is stored in a data archives or repositories. The storage service to be selected depends on the nature of the data. These are e.g. the size, features (quantitative or qualitative etc.) or the possibly need for anonymization or pseudonymization of the dataset. It is not recommended to store the datasets only in the USB-sticks or non-secured hard drives.

After the research

What data archive LUT or LAB recommend to use when opening the research dataset?

Please see the best practices for both organisations in this guide (tabs above).

I have a dataset that I cannot open. Can I store the information about it somewhere?

Also opening the metadata (i.e. the descriptive data from the dataset) is a part of opening the data. You can store the metadata, for example, using the Finnish Qvain service. Using this service makes the metadata searchable and findable through the Etsin service.