Uploading your data to the Kent Data Repository

Click the button to access the Kent Data Repository (KDR) homepage. Login using uour Kent I.T. Account username and password. 

After login to KDR you will be automatically directed to your Manage Deposits page. The Manage Deposits page is your User Workarea. From this page you can create new records  and view records you have already deposited. 

You can choose which records you want to view or edit by clicking on the options at the top of the list. Choose to see those in your User Workarea, Under Review, in the Live Archive, and Retired or any combination. Use the icons on the right-side of the titles to View, Remove, Edit records, or push to Under Review.   

Saving a new or existing record

When you create or edit a record, you can click ‘Save and Return’ in the record at any time and it will be there for you to come back to. Until you deposit your item only you can see and work on it and you can change it as much as you like. 

Deposting a record

Once you deposit your record it will show as Review and then Live Archive when the Library Metadata team have reviewed the record and moved it to the live archive. You will be alerted to this change of status by email.

About the Item ID number

On you Manage Deposits page, the first column of the list of records shows the Item ID number. As soon as you create your record it will have a KDR item ID number. You can also see the ID number in the URL when you are in the record – it is the last number and is two or three digits. In live records it will show as a number after the KDR URL. 

This number is important: it forms the last part of the DOI for your data record on KDR and you should cite it in any communication with the Information Services Research and Scholarly Communication Support team about your deposit.

1. Log in or click Manage Deposits
2. Click New Item
3. Read the User Agreement. Use the points as a checklist to be sure you have the information you need
4. Click Next at the bottom of the page to start the deposit process.

After this stage, you can save the entry at any time and come back to edit it later; to do this click Save and Return.

Proceed through each tab entering information about your data to create metadata and upload your files. To navigate through the process, click Previous and Next at the bottom of each form. 

Mandatory fields

All the fields marked with a white star in an orange circle are mandatory. If you don't complete them accurately, a KDR administrator may need to alter or complete them on your behalf before the record is released to the archive. If there are major or many problems, your record may be returned to your work area for more editing.

Non-mandatory fields

Please also complete non-mandatory fields. It will make your record richer and your data more FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable for others) and therefore easier to cite. 

Details tab

This is where you add the main details about your data. Some fields may be collapsed. You can expand them with the plus  buttons on the left. The mandatory fields for all records are:

• Title
• Creators – all fields; you must have an ORCiD registered with the University of Kent
• Contact email address
• DOI – if your data has been archived/published elsewhere, it will already have a DOI. If not, we will mint one for you.
• Type of data - choose the one that best describes the data that you are uploading to this record.
• Collection period – these are the dates between which your data was created or collected.

Other fields are not compulsory for all records but may be required if applicable. For instance, if your data are archived elsewhere you should include information about this in the Original Data Publication Details fields. Other fields are for specialist data or particular disciplines.

Additional information tab

The only mandatory field on this tab is the University of Kent Divisions selection, but others are recommended.

The Related Resources fields will help you link your data to your publications or your thesis in KAR, other data in KDR and resources held in external repositories or on websites. 

The email in the Contact email address field will be used if we need to contact any one about the data. Enter your own personal email address if you are about to leave the University; if someone other than you can answer queries about the data enter their email address. This may be a colleague, a supervisor or an administrator in your school/division.

Upload tab

On this tab you can upload your data files and a README file to the repository and indicate how you would like your work to shared and re-used. All the fields on these pages relate to the files themselves rather than the data set as a whole.

You must include a README file with any files you upload. Use the README file Template and save as a .txt file. 

This file is essential so that any users will have all the information they need to understand your data and know how they can reuse it. For your data to be interoperable and of use to people in other countries, disciplines or in the future they'll need to understand how it was created, how it is organised and what systems they may need to open and use the files. They will also need to know any legal or ethical issues and the provenance of the data.

Before you upload your files ensure you have prepared you data in line with your research data management plan. You should have the data you have selected for long term archiving and sharing prepared and ready to upload.

Sensitive data

You can archive any full dataset that contains personal information, commercial data or third party copyrighted material on KDR, but access should be permanently restricted. 

In this case, you should also upload a redacted or fully anonymised set of the data for sharing. 

More about ethical and legal considerations when managing your research data.

Preparing your files

The data you want to share should be:

• saved in Accessible file types, so your data can be accessed widely and will remain accessible in the future
• have names that are meaningful and do not have any spaces; replace spaces between words with dashes -, underscores _ or capitalise the first letter of each word LikeThisToDifferentiateWords in the file name.
• be organised in a logical way; if you have a complex folder structure, zip your data files in their folders before uploading them so the folder structure is retained and the data take up less space.

Choose a licence for your data so that users can tell how they can use the data and what your intentions are. Use different licences depending on the reuse and the type of materials in each file.

Declaration

This tab must be completed before you can deposit your data.

Deposit

This is the final stage of the process. If you’re not sure all the information is correct, click Save and Return and finish the deposit when you have all the necessary information. 

If you're confident that the details you've entered are accurate and complete, read the deposit agreement and click the Deposit Now button. 

If any vital information is missing, an alert will appear on the screen. Click the link and go back and correct it before attempting to deposit again

Your item is now Under review. We'll check the record and make sure all required information is accurate and complete. We’ll then move your item to the live archive.

If there are any major omissions or problems, we will return the record to your User Workarea. You'll get an email explaining the problem with a link to your record. Or you can log in and go to your User Workarea using the Manage deposits button. Edit and redeposit as described below.

Once your item is in the live archive, you'll get a message with a link asking you to check the record. Look at all the information on the abstract page and check the file access and licence information.

If you need us t make any changes,  email researchsupport@kent.ac.uk.  Give as much information as possible, including:

• the URL of your record
• the field you want changing 
• what you want it to say.  

As soon as you confirm that you are happy with your record, we will create the DOI for you and it will resolve to the KDR record.

Example DOI: 

• 10.22024/UniKent/01.01.111

This breaks down into these components:

• [DOI prefix]/UniKent/[ISID]. [SystemID].[ItemIDNumber]

Components explained: 

• DOI prefix: this is the same for all DOIs minted for Kent with DataCite and was assigned by the British Library on activation of our account 
• UniKent: this identifies the originating institution for human readers 
• IS ID: this is 01 for DOIs generated by Research Support systems.  
• System ID: this allows Information Services to see from which system the DOI was minted: 
• KDR 01 
• KAR 02 
• Item ID number: system generated unique ID, eg the eprint ID of the item record in the source repository. 

Manage deposits

Until you deposit the record it will stay in your work area. You can return to it and edit it at any time and use the Save and Return button for it to remain in your user work area.

1. Log into the repository and click Manage Deposits.
2. Find the record in the list.
3. Click on the Edit item icon (Paper and pencil)
4. Navigate using the tabs at the top or the ‘next/previous’ buttons at the bottom.
5. Save and Return to keep your changes

Review

While the record is under review you can retrieve it back into your work area and edit it.

1. Log into the repository and click Manage Deposits.
2. Find the record in the list.
3. Click the View Item icon (paper and magnifying glass)
4. Choose the Actions Tab
5. Choose the Return to Workarea button
6. Then edit as above. You must redeposit it for it to return to the review area.

Live archive

Once the record is in the Live archive you can't edit it yourself. 

If you need any changes, email researchsupport@kent.ac.uk. Give as much information as possible, including:

• the URL of your record
• the field you want changing 
• what you want it to say.  

We may need to discuss the changes if they affect the DOI metadata or the integrity of access to the materials.  

You can request changes to any records where you have been involved in the creation of the data regardless of whether you made the deposit yourself.

Get help and support with research data management by emailing the Research and Scholarly Communication Support Team.