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Research Data Management Overview

Includes best practices, resources, and tools for managing and sharing research data.

Data Papers

A data paper (also known as data article, data report, data brief, or data note) is a peer reviewed document describing a dataset, published in a peer reviewed journal. Unlike a conventional research article, the primary purpose of a data paper is to describe data and the circumstances of their collection, rather than to report hypotheses and conclusions.

How do data papers compare to other types of scholarly publishing or data documentation?

  • Similarities
    • Includes basic research article elements such as a title, abstract, background, methods, and digital object identifier (DOI)
    • Options for peer reviewed publishing
  • Differences
    • Presents a carefully selected dataset, detailing its compilation process and potential applications for future use.
    • Focus on data gathered during the research lifecycle including usage notes, code, collection methods, validation and more.
    • Does not include the dataset itself nor report any new findings.

Why should you consider writing a data paper?

  • You can receive credit through indexing and citation of the published paper​
  • It will increase the visibility, usability and credibility of the data​
  • Provides more effective tracking for data usage and citations

Common Peer Reviewed Data Journals

Here is a short list of common peer reviewed data journals. See more information below on finding data journals and papers more related to your research area.

Finding Data Papers and Journals

If you are looking for an example of a data paper, you can use citation databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. To learn more about how to use these tools, please visit the Citation Databases research guide. Both images below show how using advanced search fields allows you to limit the search to data papers. Once your have your results, you will be able to review data papers related to your field and see what journals they were published in.

Scopus example:

Advanced search -> Field codes -> Document (Doc Type) -> Data Paper code is dp [Example: begin your search with DOCTYPE(dp)]

Web of Science: Core Collection

Fielded search -> Document Type -> Data Paper