Open Science | Donders Institute

Open science is a core value for the Donders Institute. To stimulate collaboration and provide accessible research (data) we believe that sharing knowledge via open science is important. This also accelerates scientific discovery and innovation. Research Data Management (RDM) is an important aspect to ensure that research data is safe and secure and remains valuable for the long-term. Proper data management encourages Open Science, by making research data accessible and reusable to others.

Radboud Data Repository

As of the end of 2023 the Donders Repository was merged with the Radboud Data Repository (RDR). The RDR is a data repository for researchers of uu77 to archive and/or publish their research data. All datasets of the Donders Repository are findable on the web portal of the RDR. It contains over 2,900 data collections in editable state, over 300 internally archived collections and more than 400 published collections that are accessible to the general public. Visit the repository to learn more:

86 % open-access publications

Open access is a broad international movement that seeks to grant free and open online access to academic information, such as and . A publication is defined 'open access' when there are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing it - that is to say when anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for and search within the information, or use it in education or in any other way within the legal agreements. 86% of all Donders Institute publications in 2022 was open access. This percentage has been growing steadily for a number of years. In 2019 this percentage was 69%.

Preprints

Many preprints from the Donders Institute are accessible on preprint platforms, click on one of the links below to access them:

BioRxiv (pronounced "bio-archive") is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. It is operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a not-for-profit research and educational institution. The Donders Institute has its own channel on this platform.

arXiv is a curated research-sharing platform open to anyone. arXiv currently serves the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. arXiv was founded by Paul Ginsparg in 1991 and is now maintained and operated by Cornell Tech.

PsyArXiv (psychology archive) is designed to facilitate rapid dissemination of psychological research. PsyArXiv is a creation of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) and the Center for Open Science (COS).

Research Data Management (RDM) policy

Research Data Management (RDM) is an important aspect in research to ensure that research data is safe and secure and remains valuable for the long-term. The Donders Institute strives to preserve and share all its research data for the long-term according to the FAIR principles from 2020 onwards. At the Donders Institute, a RDM policy (pdf, 164 kB) document has been written that outlines the responsibilities of all Donders Institute employees towards management of their research data throughout the research life cycle. The RDM policy distinguishes the following research phases (1) Preparing a project, (2) data acquisition, analysis and scientific writing and (3) data publication.

Preparing a project

During the initiation of a project at the Donders Institute, a Data Management plan is drafted according to a template. For PhD-students this paragraph must be drafted as part of their Training and Supervision Plan, which is updated throughout the project.

All projects must have ethical approval according to applicable legislation or guidelines, see for specifics. Additionally, each centre has procedures in place ensuring ethical and project approval before data collection initiation:

DCCN ()
DCC ()
DCN ()

Data acquisition, analysis and scientific writing

Collected research data is always stored in a safe location (to prevent unauthorized access) and preserved for at least 10 years with regular automated backups (to prevent data loss). Experimental data is pseudonymized using non-identifiable subject-codes. Pseudonymization keys are stored separate from the experimental data on an access-restricted location.

Research data is documented and metadated according to the FAIR principles.

is only acquired for administrative purposes (e.g. contact information) or for scientific purposes and is disposed after it is no longer required for the purpose described. Participant’s personal data is always password-protected and stored on encrypted media on a separate location from the other research data. For storage of personal data and for work-in-progress research data, centre-specific storage systems are used:

DCCN ()
DCC ()
DCN (password protected drives of C&CZ)

Sharing of work-in-progress experimental data such as raw data, processed data or scripts is done via password protected, backed-up media, i.e.:

1) the centre-specific storage system, or 2) the , or 3)

Sharing of personal data is limited, but if required, done through the centre-specific storage systems.

Archiving of work-in-progress data is done in the - with the exception of extremely large datasets from the DCN, for which an alternative is offered (see the DCN regulations).

Data publication

As a rule, research data of all Donders Institute publications is shared with the scientific community. Deviations from this rule are only possible after explicit approval by the centre director. Possible reasons to deviate from this rule pertain to ethical, contractual, legal or severe financial constraints.

The (formerly known as Donders Repository) is the default repository for sharing data of Donders Institute researchers. If the researcher finds a repository better suited for his/her data, or a journal requests/advises to use another repository, the researcher should first seek for approval from the centre’s data steward. When considering an external repository, 1) it must adhere to FAIR principles, 2) datasets that potentially contain personal identifiable information can only be shared under a Data Use Agreement that protects the identity of the participants (e.g., Data Use Agreement forbids to establish identity or to attempt to contact participants) and 3) the rights holder remains as defined earlier in the project.

Data is in principle published at the moment that the final proofs are sent back to the journal. However, an embargo period of max. 2 years can be applied if (part of) the data is part of a larger dataset that is still processed for publication.

Data shared in the Radboud repository will be provided in a generally accessible format including relevant metadata and it will be documented according to the FAIR principles, in order to facilitate collaboration and reuse of the data.

Further information

Detailed information and practical guidelines can be found on the centre-specific .

If you have specific questions about data management at any of the Donders Institute centres, you can contact your local data steward.

Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (DCCN): Dick Schijven
Donders Centre for Cognition (DCC): m.kos [at] donders.ru.nl (Miriam Kos)
Donders Centre for Neuroscience (DCN): b.englitz [at] donders.ru.nl (Bernhard Englitz)
Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience (DCMN): Joanes.Grandjean [at] radboudumc.nl (Joanes Grandjean)

For general questions about RDM at the Donders Institute or Radboud Repository, you can contact datasupport [at] donders.ru.nl (datasupport[at]donders[dot]ru[dot]nl)