eTheses: underlying materials and data

Underlying research data/digital materials

Wherever possible, research data or other digital materials underpinning your thesis should be made available in ORDO and the DOI assigned to your data should be added to ORO in the ​related URLs ​field when depositing your thesis.

Data should be deposited in ORDO before ​your thesis is added to ORO. This is to enable you to add the DOI associated with your data to a Data Access Statement in your thesis.

Embargoed or restricted datasets

It may be appropriate to apply an embargo to your data; if so please give reasonable justification in the record when adding your data to ORDO.

In some cases it may be impossible to make your data openly available, due to ethical, legal or commercial restrictions. If so, you may archive your data in ORDO and keep the files confidential. The record should clearly state why the data are unavailable for download and whether there are any conditions which would allow access. If you are unsure whether your data should be made publicly available in ORDO, please contact the Library Research Support team for more advice.

For more information, see our guidance on using ORDO. 

Using another data repository

If your PhD has been funded you may be required to deposit your data in an external funder-supported repository. In this instance you do not need to deposit the data in ORDO, but should still include a Data Access Statement in your thesis and add the DOI to your thesis record in ORO.

In some circumstances it is preferable to deposit data in a well established discipline-specific repository, rather than ORDO, to enable greater discoverability or credibility. In this instance you do not need to deposit the data in ORDO but should still include a Data Access Statement in your thesis and add the DOI to your thesis record in ORO. 

If you have any questions about depositing your thesis or require any help please contact the Library Research Support team.