Citation of dynamic datasets

For datasets that are continuously and rapidly updated, there are special challenges both in citation and preservation. For citation, four approaches are possible:

  1. Cite a specific slice 1 or subset (the set of updates to the dataset made during a particular period of time or to a particular area of the dataset). Example:

  • Data Request T.Jansen; SAHFOS; Work published 2014 via SAHFOS ; Area Def: 54-65°N, 0-45°W. Temporal Def: 1980-2012 (April-August) Taxonomic Def: All zooplankton; (dataset). https://doi.org/10.7487/2014.15.1.1

  1. Cite a specific snap-shot 2 (a copy of the entire dataset made at a specific time). Example:

  • König-Langlo, G., & Sieger, R. (2010). BSRN snapshot 2010-01 as ISO image file (3.75 GB) [Data set]. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.833424

  1. Cite the continuously updated dataset 3 but add an Access Date and Time to the citation. Example:

  1. Cite a query 4, time-stamped for re-execution against a versioned database. The RDA recommended citation for this approach is:

Notes:

The “slice,” “snap‐shot” and “query” options require unique identifiers. Be aware that the third option (c) necessarily means that following the citation does not result in access to the resource as cited. This limits reproducibility of the work that uses this form of citation.

In addition, please note that access date and time may be combined with the first (a), second (b) and fourth (d) options, but it must be used with the third option (c).

The fourth option (d) may shift more work onto repositories to store database versions for all the queries, so not all repositories will be able to support this alternative.

Footnotes

1

Ball, A. & Duke, M. (2015, July 30). ‘How to Cite Datasets and Link to Publications’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh : Digital Curation Centre. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/cite-datasets#sec:versions

2

Ball, A. & Duke, M. (2015, July 30). ‘How to Cite Datasets and Link to Publications’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh : Digital Curation Centre. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/cite-datasets#sec:versions

3

Ball, A. & Duke, M. (2015, July 30). ‘How to Cite Datasets and Link to Publications’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh : Digital Curation Centre. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/cite-datasets#sec:versions

4

Rauber, A., Uytvanck, D. V., Asmi, A., & Proll, S. (2016, February 09). Identification of Reproducible Subsets for Data Citation, Sharing and Re-Use. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from https://www.rd-alliance.org/system/files/documents/TCDL-RDA-Guidelines_160411.pdf