Manage Your Research Data
Research data is created or generated as part of a research project, including numeric data, text, transcripts, images, video and audio recordings, and more. Good research data management prevents data loss, stores data securely and facilitates data sharing.
UBC Library offers advice and services for research data management, including
- DMP Assistant: a free, national, bilingual online tool that helps Canadian researchers develop structured, funder-compliant Data Management Plans (DMPs). Please select the UBC simplified template (pre-funding phase). This concise template and accompanying guidance are intended for research teams preparing grant applications. It helps plan the management of research data throughout the project lifecycle.
- UBC Dataverse Collection (at Borealis): Borealis is Canada’s bilingual, multidisciplinary, and secure national research data repository built on the open-source Dataverse platform, hosted by Scholars Portal at the University of Toronto and supported by regional academic libraries consortia and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. It enables researchers at UBC to deposit, manage, share, and preserve data with features like DOI assignment, multilingual metadata, granular access controls, version tracking, in-browser data previews, and monthly integrity checks—all while complying with FAIR principles and ensuring Canadian jurisdiction over data. Use it for small to medium-sized research data.
- UBC Library RDM GitHub: These open-source, self-paced learning modules are built on GitHub and aligned with The Carpentries’ pedagogy. Topics include file naming, data organization, READMEs, sharing data, Data Management Plans, data deposits in Borealis, and more. Free, self-paced, reproducible, and licensed for reuse.
- UBC Library RDM DataGuide: Updated regularly, this guide walks you through core RDM concepts such as directory structure, file formats, metadata, storage, and version control.
Learn more at the UBC Library Research Data Management Website or attend one of UBC Library’s workshops. Check the instruction calendar for dates and times.
ORCID iD
Part of managing your research data includes managing your author profile, allowing your citations to be properly attributed and linked to you. One type of author profile is linked to an ORCID iD, a type of personal persistent identifier. ORCID is an international non-profit organization.
ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle, and reducing the risk of errors.
An ORCID iD is yours, for your entire career. Even if your name changes or you move between countries, postings, or fields, your ORCID iD remains unchanged.
Register for your ORCID iD at https://orcid.org
Data Repositories
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UBC Dataverse Collection (at Borealis)Borealis is Canada’s bilingual, multidisciplinary, and secure national research data repository built on the open-source Dataverse platform, hosted by Scholars Portal at the University of Toronto and supported by regional academic libraries consortia and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. It enables researchers at UBC to deposit, manage, share, and preserve data with features like DOI assignment, multilingual metadata, granular access controls, version tracking, in-browser data previews, and monthly integrity checks—all while complying with FAIR principles and ensuring Canadian jurisdiction over data. Use it for small to medium-sized research data.
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The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR)FRDR is a national, bilingual data repository platform developed by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada to support Canadian researchers in sharing and preserving large-scale research data. Designed for high-capacity data management, FRDR accommodates datasets too large for Borealis, offering secure storage, DOI minting, and metadata support. Use it for large datasets (in TBs).
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DryadDryad is a curated general-purpose repository that makes the data underlying scientific publications discoverable, freely reusable, and citable. Dryad has integrated data submission for a growing list of journals; submission of data from other publications is also welcome.
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Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)ICPSR is a repository for social science datasets.
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OpenICPSRData deposited in OpenICPSR meets funder Open Access requirements. UBC Library is an institutional member: the fee for simple deposit of data by UBC researchers is waived.
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re3data.orgComprehensive registry of more than 1700 research data repositories, including both general and discipline-specific.
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PANGAEAData publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
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ZenodoData repository developed by CERN for data, software and other research outputs from all disciplines.
Citing Data
- Data Citation: Vancouver Style This handout shows how to cite data in the Vancouver style.
Contact Information
For personalized assistance with research data management or to arrange a workshop, please email research.data@ubc.ca
