Metadata Guidelines

Publishing research outputs in a findable and reusable way can increase the discovery and distribution of digital research content.  In recognition of the FAIR data principles, adding clear and descriptive metadata to a published record helps make digital content Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.  Metadata can increase the discovery of digital content and lets people know the circumstances under which data can be reused and how data should be preserved into the future.

Adding descriptive and meaningful metadata to the institutional repository Melbourne Figshare

The text fields within a Figshare record allow research data to be published alongside a clear and meaningful  description of the output.  The description of the output and reuse licensing information provide a frame of reference  for the practical understanding, and reproducibility of the work.

Published research data generally require some kind of online description (i.e. metadata) and should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable, both manually and with automated tools. This requires researchers to include appropriate context (descriptive, technical, methodological, access, and provenance information) either within the data structure or in separate metadata records for the research data. The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 3.1 Retention and publication

Descriptive metadata for a Figshare item can be added using the following text fields:

  • Title: The title is the name or heading given to a record. A good title is descriptive, concise and gives context to an output. The working title for the data may not always be appropriate to use.
  • Group: Select a Faculty, School or Department.
  • Item type: Is a list of assets that helps users categorise and define the output type.
  • Authors: A list of authors should include people who have collaborated on the project.
  • Categories: Allows research activity to be categorised according to the field of research.  The categories in Figshare are based on the Australian field of research codes.
  • Keywords: Are words that provide insight into the subject or topic of a research output, beyond the category or field of research.  Keywords enhance search engine optimisation (SEO) and discoverability of outputs.
  • Description: Is a summary of the output and should expand on the information provided in the title.  The description should provide context to the overall research project and to the published output.  It may include information on how the data was created or collected, what tools and source materials were used.
  • Funding: Link funding to a record by typing the grant ID into the free text field.  The free text field also allows the title of an award and institution to be manually entered.
  • Related Materials:  Files or resources used in the data collection and research process.  Links to references should be provided.
  • Licence:  Sets conditions on how work can be shared, used and adapted.  Items can be shared openly under Creative Commons licenses or shared under a more restrictive licence.  Visit the University of Melbourne Copyright Office for more information on selecting a licence.
  • Add to Elements: Automatically add research materials to the University's internal collection management system Elements and the University's public facing researcher profiling site Find an Expert.

Figshare is not recommended for the storage or publication of data that may contain private or sensitive information.  Publishing descriptions of research data as metadata is still good practice.  It lets people know the data is available, but access is restricted due to sensitivities.

To understand whether your materials are suitable for storage in Melbourne Figshare, it is recommended that you use the University's Research Data Classification Tool to compare your data requirements against the Figshare sensitive data classification.