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Dataverse How-To

Creating an Account

Who can create an account?

All current Emory University faculty, students, and staff with an active Emory Network ID can login and create an account in Dataverse.

Log In to the Dataverse

  1. Go to the Emory Dataverse and click on the Log In link in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  2. Under Institutional Account, select Emory University from the drop-down list, and click Continue.
  3. When you are re-directed to the Emory Login screen, enter your Emory Network ID and password and click Login.
  4. If this is your first time logging in to Dataverse, check the box to accept the Terms of Use and click Create Account.
  5. You are now logged in to Dataverse as an Emory authorized user. Before adding your data, please check that you are within the Emory Dataverse.

If you encounter any issues signing in to the Emory Dataverse or using your account, please contact us for help.

Depositing and Publishing Data

Adding a New Dataset

Once you have created your Dataverse account and reviewed the Deposit Policy, you may add your data to the Emory Dataverse.

  1. Before adding your data, please check that you are within the Emory Dataverse.
  2. Click on the Add Data button on the right-hand side above the list of datasets, and select New Dataset. If you only see an option to add a New Dataverse, you are at the top level of the UNC Dataverse, and must navigate to the hosted Emory Dataverse at https://dataverse.unc.edu/dataverse/Emory to create your dataset.
  3. Enter information about your dataset in the required fields with an asterisk: Title, Author Name, Contact Email, Description, and Subject. The Distributor, Depositor, and Deposit Date are also required, but the Emory Dataverse will automatically fill out these fields. All other fields are optional; the Metadata section below covers other types of information you may wish to provide.
  4. When you click Save Dataset, Dataverse will generate a full citation to your dataset, including the DOI.

Your dataset is now ready for you to upload files.

Uploading Files

  1. To add files to your dataset, go to the dataset you want to update and select the Files tab. Click the Upload Files button to upload your data.
  2. Click Select Files to Add and browse to select your relevant files, or drag and drop files directly from your computer into the browser window. If you are uploading compressed files in zip format, the files will be unpacked automatically.
  3. As you upload files, they will appear in a list. From this list you can edit each file name, add a brief description, or apply a category (documentation, data, image, or code) using the Edit Tags button displayed next to each file.
  4. Once you have finished uploading your files, click Save Changes to finish. You can return to this screen at any time and edit the files before submitting your dataset to be published.

Restricted Files: if you need to restrict access to any of your data files, please see the Restricted Data section below for more information and contact us to discuss available options in Dataverse.

If you have questions about supported file formats, please refer to the Dataverse User Guide as you prepare your files for upload. Documentation for the current version of Dataverse software in use can always be found via the User Guide link in the top header.

Metadata: Describing Your Data 

The more information you provide about your data, the better. It helps others understand the nature, context, and purpose of your research.

Required information fields are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be completed for each dataset:

  1. Title
  2. Author Name
  3. Contact Email
  4. Description
  5. Subject

The Distributor, Depositor, and Deposit Date are also required, but the Emory Dataverse will automatically fill out these fields.

Although it is not required, we highly recommend completing optional fields as they relate to your dataset:

  • Related Publications are especially helpful to include. Enter the full citations for any published work (e.g., journal article, book chapter, thesis or dissertation) that uses the data.
  • Grant Information: enter the funding agency name and award number (if applicable) for any sponsors that supported your data collection.

Help boxes will appear as you hover your cursor over metadata field names, and provide more detail about the kind of information that a field requires.

When you have finished entering your metadata, click Save Changes at the top or bottom of the screen. You can log back in to edit your dataset's metadata at any time.

Publishing a Dataset: Submit for Review

When you have finished uploading your files and completed all relevant metadata fields, you can submit your dataset for review by an Emory Dataverse administrator.

  1. Go to your dataset and click on the Submit for Review button in the upper-right. This will notify the Emory Dataverse administrators, who will review your dataset for completeness.
  2. You will receive an automated email message from Dataverse notifying you that your dataset is under review.
  3. You will then receive a follow-up message from an Emory Dataverse administrator if there is any incomplete information to edit before publishing the dataset.

If your question is not addressed in this How To guide, please contact us for help.

Restricted Data

Depositing Sensitive Data

Per the Data Deposit Policy, the Emory Dataverse does not accept deposits of any data considered to be Internal, Confidential, or Restricted according to the Data Classification Definitions in Emory's Disk Encryption Policy.

Any submitted dataset that contains sensitive data will not be published. An Emory Dataverse administrator will contact the dataset author to discuss suitable options for depositing sensitive data.

Restricting Access to Data

If you have data that need an embargo period or limited access to facilitate an external review, please contact us to discuss your options, including

  • restricting access to either individual files or all files within your dataset
  • providing a private URL for limited access to your dataset prior to publishing
  • requiring users to request your permission before they can download data files
  • setting an embargo period to restrict access to your dataset until a future date

Finding and Accessing Restricted Data

Datasets that have restricted access to files will bear a red lock icon beside the file name.

If the author of a dataset has permitted users to request access, then you may use Dataverse's Contact Email function to send a message to the author. Please note that you must be logged into the Emory Dataverse to use this feature. The dataset author will make the final determination whether or not to grant access to their data files.

Finding and Accessing Data

Finding Data

Users can search across all published datasets and files in the Emory Dataverse by using the search box found at the top of the page that says: Search this dataverse...

There is also an Advanced Search link that will take users to a screen with more fields to search across all the information provided for datasets and files in the Emory Dataverse.

The basic and advanced searches will only retrieve results of datasets that have been released to the public. Datasets that are still in draft mode will not show up in the search results. Also, while authors might release information about datasets, they could still restrict access to some or all the associated files. For more information on restricted files, see the section above on Restricted Data.

Using Data

After searching and finding a dataset of interest, click on the name of the dataset. On the dataset page, you can see the title, citation, and description. Below that basic information, there are tabs for the Files, Metadata, Terms, and Versions information for the dataset.

View

All files associated with a dataset are listed under the Files tab. If there are a large number of files, use Search this dataset... to search only within the dataset.

Download

From the Files list, you can download any or all of the associated dataset files individually or in batch. Use the checkboxes next to each file name to select multiple files, and click the Download button. After clicking Download, you must enter required information about yourself and agree to the Dataverse terms of use to start the download.

Cite

The light blue box at the top of the dataset page contains the dataset citation. Use the Cite Dataset link to export the dataset citation in multiple formats.

Explore

Dataverse has functionality for exploring and analyzing tabular data without downloading the actual files. Please see the Data Exploration section of the Dataverse software User Guide for more information.

Documentation for the current version of Dataverse software in use can always be found via the User Guide link in the top header.

Data Analysis

Dataverse has functionality for exploring and analyzing tabular data without downloading the actual files. Data files with the Explore button next to the Download button are formatted for analysis within Dataverse.

Please see the Data Exploration section of the Dataverse software User Guide for more information. Documentation for the current version of Dataverse software in use can always be found via the User Guide link in the top header.

If your question is not addressed in this How To guide, please contact us for help.