Research Data Policies
The definition of research data varies due to diversity of disciplines. More so, different research funders have peculiar objectives underlying their researches. According to Edinburg University, research data, unlike other types of information, is collected, observed, or created, for purposes of analysis to produce original research results. "Research data is defined as recorded factual material commonly retained by and accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings; although the majority of such data is created in digital format, all research data is included irrespective of the format in which it is created." https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/research-support/research-data-service.The University of Leicester presents the broad categories of research data spectrum from the perspective of physical sciences as:
(1) Raw/initially processed data produced at a research facility such as an observatory
(2) ‘Research ready’ processed data which has been fully calibrated, combined and cleaned/annotated
(3) Published output dataset – following detailed analysis of research ready datasets
(4) Published catalogue type representation of published output dataset
The publication policy of EL-74 encourages researchers to provide and utilize these research data which include but are not limited to: raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, methods, materials. Elsevier defines research data as “the result of observations or experimentations that validate research findings and which are not already published as part of a journal article.”