Contact rdm@tufts.edu with any questions about using Tufts Dataverse.
When depositing in Tufts Dataverse, researchers must abide by the Harvard Dataverse General Terms of Use as well as all Tufts University policies, including the Information Stewardship Policy and the Policy on Rights and Responsibilities with Respect to Intellectual Property.
No personally identifiable information should be uploaded to Tufts Dataverse. See Harvard Dataverse’s Terms of Use for their definition of identifiable information. There may be exceptions for when identifiable information is allowed. Contact rdm@tufts.edu to schedule a consultation to determine what data should be uploaded.
If unpublished datasets are identified as containing personally identifiable information, the dataset authors will be contacted and asked to revise their dataset before publication.
If datasets that contain personally identifiable information are published, Tufts Dataverse administrators will deaccession such datasets. Responsible parties will be contacted by Tufts Dataverse administrators. Their Dataverse privileges may be minimized or revoked, and the Office of Information Security will be contacted for follow-up.
Tufts Dataverse administrators review datasets submitted to the general Tufts Dataverse prior to publication, as well as datasets published within a Collection.
Datasets will remain unpublished until a Tufts Dataverse administrator has approved the submission. We aim to contact users within 1-2 business days after submission, but publication may be delayed if changes are required. We recommend initiating a deposit at least 2 weeks before you need the data to be published.
The following criteria are used to approve dataset publication:
The dataset contains no personally identifiable information, unless an exception has been identified in consultation with Tufts Dataverse administrators.
The Description field provides enough details so that other researchers can understand (1) what data is contained within; and (2) the context in which the data was collected/generated.
If the dataset is related to a publication, the "Related Publication" field is filled. If the dataset is not related to a publication, a brief description of the methodology used to create the dataset is included (e.g., in the description or in a README file).
The dataset contains metadata sufficient for those looking to reuse the data. Preferably, the dataset includes a README file, codebook, or data dictionary which define variables and/or describe relevant files.
Files are restricted as necessary (e.g., due to journal sharing requirements, data embargo, etc.).
The dataset author has defined a license/data use agreement that is appropriate for their needs.
Users may be asked to revise their datasets if they do not meet these criteria.