When it is time to preserve your data, you will need to carefully consider exactly which components of your research need to be preserved. Answering "yes" to any of the following questions with regard to a particular data file or set of data may indicate that those data should be preserved for the long-term.

• Do the data support published research?
• Are the data vulnerable?
• Are the data required for your research but from another source (i.e. not your original research data)? If so, is the future availability of those data from the original source uncertain?
• Do you wish, or are you required, to share your data?
• Are the data historically significant?

In addition, you should also consider whether you will need to preserve multiple versions of a file or whether the most recent version will be sufficient for preservation. It may also be important to consider whether the project is still in progress or whether it is complete. Long-term projects, such as those that involve sampling of a single site repeatedly over months or years, may require periodic preservation of data before the project is actually considered "finished."

A license will define what others may or may not do with your data. You may choose to assign a broad license that allows anyone to do whatever they like with your data, or you may assign a more narrow license that restricts their use to strictly non-commercial activities and requires attribution of the data creator whenever it is used.

The two primary current sources for licenses are Creative Commons and Open Data Commons. If you elect to deposit data into the Stanford Digital Repository (see below), you will have the option to choose any of the licenses below or one of several software licenses. See the full list of licenses available in the SDR.

A number of specific licenses are also available specifically for open source software (OSS). If you are interestesd in an OSS license, choosealicense.com may be of help to you.

As part of your data management plan, you may wish to preserve your research output in the Stanford Digital Repository. If so, please note the following important information:

Depositing data into the Stanford Digital Repository requires your acceptance of the Terms of Deposit set forth by the University and may incur associated fees. Before you commit to using the Stanford Digital Repository for your ongoing data preservation and access needs, please contact sdr-contact@lists.stanford.edu for detailed information regarding terms of deposit, terms of use, fee structure, as well as embargo and licensing options.

Download SDR Terms of Deposit (pdf)

If you do choose to use the Stanford Digital Repository, the following text describing the service and how your data will be safeguarded and made accessible may be copied and pasted directly into your data management plan's section on data preservation.

"Data will be preserved and shared via the Stanford Digital Repository (SDR), a service built and run by Stanford Libraries. Datasets and other content in any format can be deposited into the SDR and made available immediately to the world via open access licenses and at no cost to the end user. Depositors can choose to have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) assigned to their dataset, which is available at a persistent URL along with the required metadata describing the content. ORCID iDs may be included for every author. Datasets are replicated multiple times and stored in geo-diverse locations on different media types, providing long-term data management and data integrity. The stable technical infrastructure and dedicated staffing by digital preservation experts, funded by the University, ensures the long-term availability of the datasets."

Note that this language is available within the Data Management Planning Tool, if you opt to use that method for writing your data management plan.