Entering metadata for Figshare

figshare is a repository where users can make all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner.

 (Figshare 2012, Figshare, viewed 13 August 2014, <http://figshare.com/about>)

 

Figshare is a user-friendly resource that you can freely use to store your data and make it available to others (and get credit for it). The more discoverable your data is, the more likely others are to cite it. And the discoverability of that data is largely dependant on the quality of your metadata. That is, the way you have described your data. Always try to be as comprehensive and descriptive as possible. The example from Figshare below features good, descriptive metadata (and a high number of views):

 

To add metadata to your Figshare record, just follow the steps:

 

1. Click on the ‘Add info’ hyperlink under 'Statistics' to add metadata:

 

 

2. Ensure the correct file type is selected (eg. figure, paper, data set):

 

 

3. Add authors and title. Remember to be as descriptive as possible, it should be more like a thesis/article title than a file name:

 

 

4. Add the subject category. You don't have to limit yourself to just one specific category, include every category that is relevant to the data:

 

 

5. Add tags to describe your data. Try to be thorough and include every possible term a person might use to search for your data. You should also include any variations on those terms, for instance terms such as 'social network', 'social media', 'web 2.0' may be interchangeable but all should be included. The same applies to commonly used abbreviations such as 'apps' for 'applications':

 

 

6. Next add the description, this is where you provide the context to your data so that others can interpret your research and reproduce it:

 

 

7. Finally add the URL links to any documents related to the data (such as the resultant journal article), this is a great way to generate citations: