PSDI Community Data Collections Policy

Purpose and Scope

Community Data Collections is a multi-institution subject-based research data repository for the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI). PSDI is an integrated data infrastructure for the physical sciences. The repository is one of the services of PSDI and is managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) on behalf of the PSDI partners.

PSDI acknowledges funding support from the EPSRC grants: EP/X032701/1, EP/X032663/1 and EP/W0322521.

The repository is for openly available data and is not intended to store:

  • Data still in active (live) use by research projects
  • Data that is confidential, sensitive, or contains personal information
  • Data that is not openly available

Metadata Policy

For information describing items in the repository:

  • Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
  • The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.
  • The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission. Any request for such permission should, in the first instance, be sent to support@psdi.ac.uk and will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. The result will be a joint decision between the PSDI Governance Board, community owner and data owner.

Content Policy

For full data items deposited in the repository:

  • Anyone may access full items free of charge.
  • Items are individually tagged with their version type, date, and licence.
  • Data can only be reused under the terms of the licence applied to the data item(s).

Submission/Deposit Policy

  • Items may only be deposited by accredited authorised members of the PSDI service.
  • Researchers may only submit data for which they have authorisation from the data owner.
  • Changes to deposited items are not permitted; if necessary, an updated version may be deposited.
  • Items can be deposited at any time but will not be made publicly visible until an embargo period has expired.
  • The repository service will check items for the eligibility of depositors, relevance to the scope of the repository, valid layout & format.
  • The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
  • Any copyright or licence violations are entirely the responsibility of the researcher/depositor.
  • If the repository service receives proof of copyright or licence violation, the relevant item will be removed.

Preservation Policy

  • Items will be retained for the lifetime of the repository, which is currently the lifetime of the PSDI. In the event of the repository being closed down, best efforts will be made to integrate the content into suitable alternative institutional and/or subject-based repositories.
  • The repository will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
  • The repository regularly backs up its files (metadata and data) according to current best practices.
  • Items may not normally be removed from the repository. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
    • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
    • Legal requirements and proven violations
    • National Security
    • Falsified research
  • Withdrawn items are not deleted per se but are removed from public view.
  • URLs will continue to point to 'tombstone' citations, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories.

If you have a query or complaint about material in the PSDI repository, please send the following information to support@psdi.ac.uk: Your contact details, details of the item (title, author, URL), and the nature of your query or complaint, including any evidence or proof.

PSDI Community Data Collections Policy version 1.0 March 2025