Dataset concepts
On Redivis, datasets are the fundamental container for persistent data storage. They are created by users or organizations, and can be distributed via simple sharing or more complex access configurations.
All data in datasets are stored within Tables (including geospatial features and unstructured files). Dataset editors can upload data to the dataset, modify metadata, and then release a new version for use in researchers' workflows.
The dataset page
The dataset page is the user-facing of the dataset. This page combines various narrative and provenance information alongside structured metadata, the actual data content, and usage information.
At the top of the page is the dataset title, as well as a version indicator and bookmark button. Clicking the version indicator will open the version history and allow you to change the dataset's version; clicking the bookmark icon will add or remove the dataset from your dataset library.
To the top-right are two buttons: View / Apply for access and Analyze in workflow. The first will allow you to view the access rules for the dataset and apply as needed, whereas the latter will allow you to add the dataset to a new or existing workflow for analysis.
The rest of the page is organized into four tabs: Overview, Tables, Files, and Usage. If you are a dataset editor, you will also see an Edit dataset link to the right of the usage tab.
Overview
The Overview tab contains the dataset's documentation, provenance information, and top level metadata. The following information can be populated on a dataset:
Abstract
The abstract is limited to 256 characters and will show up in previews and search results for the dataset. This should be a concise, high-level summary of this dataset.
Provenance
This section is intended to display information about where this dataset came from and how it came to be in its current form. Redivis will auto-populate fields where possible but you can add additional information or override it.
Provenance
→ Creator
This field should be the individual(s) or organization(s) responsible for creating the content of this dataset. This will be linked with the appropriate ORCID iD or ROR if the individual or organization has attached them to their Redivis account. You can also include individuals and organizations that don't have Redivis accounts and include their identifier. If you have multiple creators you can edit the order they are shown, which will also be reflected in the citation.
Provenance
→ Contributor
This field is to attribute the work that different individuals have done to get the dataset into its current state. Redivis will automatically add anyone who edits the dataset to this field. If they have attached their ORCID iD to their Redivis account, that linkage will be shown as well. The contributor type options are aligned with DataCite standards.
Provenance
→ DOI
If your dataset belongs to an organization, you can issue a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) by configuring your organization to issue DOIs. Any DOI issued for this dataset will remain in a draft status for seven days to allow for version unrelease. After seven days the DOI will become permanent.
This section shows the automatically generated citation for this dataset in your chosen format. This can be copied or downloaded for use elsewhere.
Changes made to the "Creators" field will be reflected in this citation. Any DOI issued for this workflow will automatically be included in this citation.
If this dataset must be cited in a specific way, you can make that clear in this field. Citation instructions will be included beneath the citation wherever it is shown.
This section is for linking other identifiers (URLs or DOIs) that are relevant to this dataset. The related identifier type options are aligned with DataCite standards. You might want to include identifiers for DMPs, papers, and more.
You can launch a bibliography which displays the citation of this dataset and every related identifier listed above.
Methodology and Usage notes
These documentation sections are intended for more extensive information and can contain formatted text and images. These will be indexed for the Redivis dataset search.
Supporting files
Files of any type and up to 100MB can be uploaded to the dataset page where anyone with access can download them. These should not contain any data for this dataset, as access to them is managed separately.
Links
Links can be added with display names to direct someone to another URL with more information.
License
This is where you can add the license information about your dataset's redistribution policies. If this data is governed by a common redistribution license you can select it here from the menu of standard licenses. If you want to reference a license that isn't listed here you can include the link, or upload a custom license. This will be displayed on the dataset front page to let others know how they can use your data. This information will be included on the dataset's DOI.
Funding
If this dataset was funded by an institution you'd like to recognize, this is the section where you can include information about funder(s). You'll need the funding organization's name and ROR, as well as an award number if applicable. You can add multiple funders to each dataset. This information will be included on the dataset's DOI.
Contact
This section should be used to let someone viewing this dataset know how to get in touch if there is any issue or question.
Custom sections
You can create documentation sections with their own titles and assign them custom access levels.
By default, all dataset documentation is visible to anyone with overview access to the dataset. However, there may be some content in the documentation that is sensitive — for example, information about named variables that would require metadata access.
To protect this information you can create a custom documentation section with a more restrictive access level. Users without the appropriate level of access will only see a placeholder for that section of the documentation.
Tags
In addition to documentation, you may add up to 25 tags to your dataset, which will help researchers discover and understand the dataset.
Other metadata
Additionally, information about the dataset's size and temporal range will be automatically computed from the metadata on its tables. Additional table documentation, as well as the variable metadata, will be indexed and surfaced as part of the dataset discovery process.
Tables
The Tables tab contains a list of all tables within the current version of the dataset. All datasets that contain data will have at least one table, as tables are used to represent all data types stored on Redivis, including geospatial and unstructured data. Learn more about dataset tables.
Files
The Files tab contains a list of all the unstructured files that have been uploaded to the dataset. These files will also be mirrored in corresponding file index tables, though this interface can provide a more familiar view as a directory structure. Learn more about dataset files.
Usage
The information on the Usage tab of the dataset page is automatically generated based on how researchers are working with the dataset on Redivis, including:
Views: How many times this dataset page was loaded. These are only counted for logged-in users, and a user is only recounted after 1hr of not viewing the dataset.
Workflows: How many workflows include this dataset.
Featured workflows: How many workflows featured by organizations include this dataset.
Variable usage: This list shows all variables across all tables in the dataset, sorted by their popularity. This popularity is calculated based on the number of times that variable is referenced when this table is used in workflows.
Creating a dataset
All datasets on Redivis are owned by either an individual user or an organization.
To create a dataset owned by you, navigate to your workspace, and under Datasets, click the + New dataset button. To create a dataset owned by an organization that you administer, navigate to the organization's administrator panel, and under Datasets, choose to create a new dataset.
For step-by-step guides for creating and editing datasets, see the accompanying Create & manage datasets guide
Editing datasets
To edit a dataset, navigate to your workspace (or organization administrator panel), and click on the dataset that you would like to edit. You will also see an Edit dataset link at the top of the page for all datasets that you are an editor of.
From within the dataset editor, you will be able to update data, metadata, and release a new version of the dataset.
On the Overview tab, you can populate the various metadata fields of the dataset. Note that any fields that you leave blank will not be shown to users on the dataset's page.
On the Table and Files tabs, you can upload the various data contents associated with the dataset. Learn more about uploading data here.
Assigning editors
If a dataset is owned by a user, that user has full ability to edit and modify the dataset. If a dataset is owned by an organization, all administrators of the organization will have such rights.
You can also add other editors to the dataset by selecting Configure access at the top right of the dataset, and adding the specific individuals as editors. Editors will be able to upload data, modify metadata, and release new versions of the dataset, but they cannot modify any of the dataset's access rules or change the dataset's published status.
Dataset editors will be able to find this dataset in their workspace on the Datasets tab.
Dataset settings
On the dataset editor page, you will see an additional Settings tab, where various options for the dataset can be configured:
Dataset name
You can rename the dataset here (or by clicking on the dataset title within the dataset editor).
Administrator notes
These notes are only visible to editors of the dataset, and may provide helpful documentation for administrative processes around maintaining the dataset.
Published status
Control whether the dataset is published. If a dataset is unpublished, only editors will have access to the dataset, though you can configure access for other users such that they'll gain access when the dataset becomes published.
All datasets are initially unpublished when created, and become published when the first version is released. If you ever need to quickly remove a dataset from circulation, you can unpublish the dataset.
Featured status
[Organization datasets only]. Whether the dataset should be featured on your organization's landing page.
DOI status
[Organization datasets only]. If your organization has configured a DOI provider, you can enable DOI issuance for your organization's datasets. Based on your organization's settings, this will either be default-enabled or default-disabled for new datasets.
If you enable DOI issuance on an existing dataset, DOIs will be back-issued for all non-deleted version of the dataset. These DOIs will become permanent after 7 days.
If you disable DOI issuance on an existing dataset, any draft DOIs (less than 7 days old, or on an unreleased version) will be deleted. Any future versions will not be issued a DOI.
Learn more about dataset DOIs.
Transferring datasets
Within the dataset settings, you can transfer a dataset to a new owner. The following transfers are currently supported:
User -> Organization: the individual performing the transfer must be the owner or an editor of the dataset, and an administrator of the receiving organization).
Organization -> Organization: the individual performing the transfer must be an administrator of both organization.
Access & visibility
When first creating a dataset, you will be able to specify certain access rules for the dataset. However, these access rules will only take effect once the dataset is published, and can be modified before the dataset's publication.
While in the unpublished state, only dataset editors will be able to view the dataset, and the dataset won't be accessible to other users nor will it show up in any search results. Once a dataset has been published, visibility to the dataset will be governed by its access configuration. Datasets can be unpublished at any time to immediately cut off access for all non-editors.
Once published, and pursuant to the dataset's access configuration, all other users on Redivis will have one of the following access levels to the dataset: none, overview, metadata, sample, data. Learn more about dataset access levels.
About dataset DOIs
When enabled, DOIs are issued for all released versions of a dataset. For datasets with more than one version, a "canonical" DOI for the dataset will be issued as well.
When issued, DOIs remain in a draft state for 7 days, and will be deleted if the dataset's DOI configuration is changed. After 7 days, DOIs become permanent (this 7 day counter only begins once a version is released; unreleased versions always have a draft DOI).
DOI lifecycle
DOIs are issued for all released versions of a dataset. For datasets with more than one version, a "canonical" DOI for the dataset will be issued as well.
When issued, DOIs remain in a draft state for 7 days, and will be deleted if the dataset's DOI configuration is disabled while still a draft. After 7 days, DOIs become permanent (this 7 day counter only begins once a version is released; unreleased versions always have a draft DOI).
If a dataset is not publicly visible, its DOI will be registered, but it won't be findable – meaning that web crawlers won't index the DOI, and it won't be part of search results on platforms like DataCite. In such a case, the dataset's metadata will be redacted as well (see below).
When a dataset or version is deleted, any draft DOIs will be deleted. All other DOIs will be moved to the registered (non-findable) state, and they will continue to resolve to appropriate "tombstone" page for the dataset.
DOI metadata
DOIs are more than just persistent identifiers — they are accompanied by rich metadata that allows other tools to surface your datasets and link them to the broader body of academic work. Every field on the dataset page maps to corresponding entries in the DataCite metadata; you can view these metadata by clicking Metadata -> DataCite on the right of the "Overview" section of the dataset page. Redivis will automatically sync the DataCite metadata whenever your dataset is updated.
A note on metadata and access:
Redivis will only ever publish metadata to DataCite that is publicly visible. This means that if your dataset is completely hidden from public view, no metadata will be propagated to DataCite (including the dataset's name). Instead, a placeholder mentioning that "This dataset has been hidden from public view" will be used in place, and only the name of the dataset owner, and the dataset's contact information (if present), will be published.
While this situation isn't ideal, it allows DOIs to still be used for disambiguation when discussing the dataset, and provides a potential pathway for future investigators to contact the data owner.
Note that metadata associated with your dataset will automatically be updated if you change the public access level of your dataset.
DOIs and dataset versions
Redivis creates a DOI for every version of a dataset, allowing for authoritative references and reproducibility of data used in researchers' work. Once a dataset has more than one version, Redivis will also issue a DOI for the dataset as a whole, whose metadata will reflect the latest version of the dataset. All version DOIs will point to this canonical DOI, and also link to each other (as previous / next versions) in the DataCite metadata. This structure improves discoverability and disambiguation when referencing versioned datasets.
Discontinue or prevent DOIs
If you've uploaded your DOI issuing credentials in the Setting tab, all new datasets will by default be issued a DOI upon publishing and on every version released. If you would like to disable issuing DOIs for a specific dataset you can do so in the Setting tab of that dataset. Here you'll see a switch you can turn off to stop issuing DOIs. If the dataset is already published it will have a DOI for the dataset and all published versions that will not be removed. If you turn this switch on at any point in the future all versions will be back-issued DOIs.
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