How to create a metadata-only record on ORDO for data stored elsewhere

For some researchers, Open Reserch Data Online (ORDO), the OU's insitutional data repository, is not the optimal place to preserve and share research data. It may be that your funder has a specific repository you must use (e.g. ESRC funded researchers must deposit data with the UK Data Service), or there may be a subject-specific repository where researchers in your field/discipline more commonly share data. In such cases, data may be archived or shared in a trusted data repository other than ORDO.

Following the update to the OU’s Research Data Management Policy in December 2024, you are now required to create a metadata-only record on ORDO for any research data that is archived/shared in any other data repository. This is to ensure that there is an institutional record of all archived research data.

We have automated this process for any research data stored/shared on the Zenodo repository or in any of the Figshare repositories (Figshare or Figshare Plus), so you will not need to create your own metadata records for any data published here.

Please follow the instructions below to create a metadata-only record on ORDO for data published in any other data repository:

1. Log in to ORDO using your usual OU email address and login. If you have any access issues, please email library-research-support@open.ac.uk
2. Navigate to the ‘My Data’ page on the top right menu and select ‘Create a new item’: 
3. Select the option to ‘Link to external files’ from the radio buttons at the top of the form and add the URL address underneath for where your data are stored. Select the tick next to the URL address field to add and save the external link.Note: this should be the URL which links to the metadata record for your dataset, and should, where possible, contain the Permanent Identifier (PID) your repository has assigned to your dataset, such as its DOI, Handle or UUID (e.g., https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1234567). It is very important that this link is stable (unchanging), since this will redirect users to your dataset from ORDO. If you aren’t sure which link you should use, please email library-research-support@open.ac.uk for advice.​
4. Add in all relevant metadata as it appears in the other repository (I.e., replicate the Title, Output Type, Description, Keywords, Authors, Funding Information and License that appears on the original metadata record. The categories available to select from in ORDO are likely to differ from those offered in your host repository, so you will need to select any relevant categories from the available options.
5. If your host repository has given you a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for your dataset, select ‘Manage Identifiers’ from the ‘Item Actions’ list on the right-hand menu and add the DOI into the pop-up box that appears. This ensures that we do not create a new DOI for this metadata-only record on ORDO. If your host repository offers a different Permanent Identifier (PID) such as a Handle or a UUID, you will not need to perform this step (a new DOI will be generated for the metadata-only record on ORDO, but you should continue to use the DOI for your original dataset wherever you reference it).                                                            
6. Select ‘Edit timeline’ from the ‘Item options’ menu on the right-hand side of the screen. Scroll down to the ‘Online Publication Date’ and select the option to ‘Set Date’. Unselect the pre-ticked box which says ‘Use initial posted date’ and enter the date the dataset was published in your host repository into the ‘Set Date’ field. Select ‘Apply changes’:                                              
7. Select the option to ‘Submit for Review’ at the bottom right of the screen. This will send the record to a review queue, and once a member of the Library Research Support Team has verified that everything looks accurate, the record will be published and made live on ORDO. You will receive a notification to say that the record has been accepted for pubication.