Code of Practice for Research Data

We published the COUNTER Code of Practice for Research Data in August 2018. Since then it has been implemented by Cal Tech Data, DataONE, Dryad, Figshare and Zenodo.

The Code of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics Release 1 is aligned as much as possible with the COUNTER Code of Practice Release 5 which standardizes usage metrics for many scholarly resources, including journals and books. Many definitions, processing rules and reporting recommendations apply to research data in the same way as they apply to the other resources to which the COUNTER Code of Practice applies. Some aspects of the processing and reporting of usage data are unique to research data, and the Code of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics thus deviates from the Code of Practice Release 5 and specifically addresses them.

The Code of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics release 1 provides a framework for comparable data by standardizing the generation and distribution of usage metrics for research data. Data repositories and platform providers can now report usage metrics following common best practices and using a standard report format.

With the experiences of the implementers of Release 1, we will begin work this autumn on Release 2 of the Code of Practice for Research Data. Please contact lorraine.estelle@counterusage.org if you are interested in joining our working group for this new release.