Publishing a Dataset at the same time as the associated Paper

Most publishers and funders now ask researchers to make the data supporting a paper available. When data sharing, evidence of data sharing and peer review of data is required, authors require a workflow to keep their datasets private until the paper is published.

Below are the workflow steps to share data anonymously pre publication and how to reserve a DOI using Figshare.

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Private sharing

1. Upload your files into the ‘My Data’ section of your Figshare.com account
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2. Add descriptive metadata as if you are ready to make the file public
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3. On the top right side of the metadata form click “Share with private link” to configure a private link. You can set the date you would like the private link to expire.

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4. If the peer reviewer or publisher wants to see the files themselves, send them the private link. This is an anonymous link - your identity will not be known to the peer reviewers
   
   

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Reserve a DOI

On the metadata entry page click the “Reserve DOI" or, if you are at an institution you may see "Manage Identifiers", link on the right side. A pop up appears with some information on using the DOIs and the option to reserve one. Cite the DOI in the paper before sending for review.

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Most users will only see an option to reserve a DOI:

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If you are using your institution's Figshare repository, you may see additional options depending on how your administrators have configured the repository:

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Once a DOI is reserved and before the item becomes public, you can disable the DOI if needed:

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Upon notification that the paper is accepted and published, log into your Figshare.com account, navigate to the dataset, add a reference to the live paper and ensure metadata is descriptive.

Add the paper's DOI to the Related materials section and use 'IsSupplementTo' as the relationship. The dataset can then be linked by databases. For example see this paper's record in the Dimension's database with the dataset nicely displayed as supplementary material: https://app.dimensions.ai/details/publication/pub.1044992699

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Click “Publish item"
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The DOI that was reserved, will now be minted (go live) and the citation in your paper will be linked to the dataset.

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