Sharing social data in multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder research: Best practice guide for researchers

There is an increasing drive for openness and sharing of data, with funders and other stakeholders expecting publicly-funded data to be available for further use. Science benefits from data being maximally available as a resource for new and future research and technological advances make it easier for digital information and data to be discoverable and accessible to a very wide audience. Equally, sharing information and data amongst stakeholders is fundamental in collaborative and multi-stakeholder projects. Yet sharing data collected from human participants (e.g. through surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, participatory methods, video) can present ethical challenges as they often contain personal or confidential information. In multi-disciplinary projects, the collection of social data in conjunction with geospatial information may make it very difficult or impossible to conceal the identity of participants or fieldwork locations. Appropriate procedures are needed to maximise opportunities for future use. This guide seeks to support researchers, consultants and evaluators in sharing their data widely by highlighting key considerations and providing helpful tips, from the planning stages of research and evaluation through to the possible deposit of data with a data repository.