Data Data Data…

Is your data available for sharing?

White et al. 2013. Nine simple ways to make it easier to (re)use your data. Special Issue - Data Sharing in Ecology and Evolution. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution 6(2): 1-10

  1. Share your data
  2. Provide metadata
  3. Provide an uprocessed form of the data
  4. Use standard file formats
  5. Use good null values
  6. Make it easy to combine your data with other datasets
  7. Perform basic quality control
  8. Use an established repository
  9. Use an established open license

Data quality control procedures

From Dr. John Hoenig June 2006
1. Every time you make a change to a database, enter your name, the date, and a description and justificatin of the change.
2. Data must be proofread at least once. Enter name of person doing the checking and date the data were checked.
3. Every database should have embedded in it an explanation of every column heading, every symbol used, etc.
4. A person examining a database should be able to understand it without having to look elsewhere for explanations.

Your data should be human and machine readable!

Pretty much excludes .xlsx files…

Look at the data

Missing values or zeros, outliers, correct units? Don’t use 999, etc.

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