If you would like to submit data to the NF Data Portal, steps to do so are outlined below. Please note that if your project has been funded by one of our partners, we will be in touch with you , and you may have additional obligations to fulfill beyond the steps below, such as attending onboarding.
Data Sharing Step-by-Step
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Become a certified Synapse user. This involves:
Linking your ORCID account to your profile
(optional, but recommended)
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Complete a data sharing plan (DSP). (Note: Some DSPs are tailored to specific funders, including CTF, GFF - GTI and VRI, NTAP, and DHART-SPORE.)
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Complete the data project intake form, which will collect information needed to set up a Synapse project and list it as a study on NF Data Portal, including the project title and abstract, lead investigators, who should have access to the project, and other details. (Note: you can attach your completed DSP from step #2 to this form, if you wish.)
If your data are already generated and ready for public release, ensure that:
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data sharing obligations outlined in your agreement with the funder.
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Please ensure that you have the appropriate permission and authority to |
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share data from this study (such as Institutional Review Board approval, informed consent, etc.). If you need to |
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place conditions for use (access restrictions) on your data, please let us know (and be sure to detail them in your data sharing plan |
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Your data are annotated with metadata. (Note: we may ask you to validate your metadata, and will provide information about this process at the time.)
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Once we receive your information, we’ll review your submission, and (if approved) work with you to deposit your data in Synapse. Once all data is deposited and the embargo period ends, we’ll share your data on the NF Data Portal.
Data Sharing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why should I be certified on Synapse, and what does that involve?
If you’ll be uploading data to your project, you must become certified on Synapse before doing so. Certification requires the completion of a short quiz, which ensures you have awareness of privacy and security issues associated with using a platform that stores human subjects research data.
Why do I have to submit a data sharing plan (DSP)?
A DSP helps the NF Data Portal’s data curation team prepare for your data intake, so they can better assist you with your project. DSPs notify us of upcoming deadlines and whether data deposits will include sensitive data requiring access controls. They also indicate whether we need to prepare for new data types by extending our metadata dictionary to accomodate new attributes and terms.
What if I’ve already created a Synapse project with NF data I’d like to share on the portal?
Please get in touch with us, and in addition to following the applicable steps above, send us the synID of your project.Sharing data involves the following actions, to be completed in order:
Become a Registered and Certified User: Start by registering on Synapse and completing the certification quiz. Certification is required to upload data.
Registered Users: As a registered user, you can create projects and wikis. Collaboration with other registered users and the formation of Synapse teams are also possible. Additionally, registered users can download publicly available data. Subject to meeting project-specific Conditions for Use, they may access controlled data.
Certified Users: Once certified, you gain full access to Synapse features, enabling you to upload files and tables and create folders.
Certification Process: To become certified, you need to take a short quiz covering the Synapse Commons Data Use Procedure. This quiz ensures your understanding of the rules and policies governing data sharing on Synapse. It consists of 15 questions and typically takes around 15-20 minutes to complete.
Complete a data sharing plan (DSP): The goal of this is to support the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and allows you to describe the data being shared and how/when they will be released. You can access the DSP here. Your project will be set up by us after we receive your data sharing plan.
Add team members to your project: To share the project with others on your research team, you can create a Team on Synapse. Find more information and instructions to do so here. Once your Team is created, it will appear in your Synapse profile here. Once you have created a team, you can add the team to your project from the main project page, giving them access. To do so, go to Project Settings > Project Sharing Settings.
Upload your data: Once your project is created in Synapse and you’ve added some folders to house your data, you’re ready to upload your project’s data. We have a separate page on this site with instructions to do so, which you can find in our How to Upload Data document.
Annotate your data: This involves labeling your files with metadata so users can easily find and filter for the data they need when exploring data on the portal. We have a separate page on this site with more information and instructions on adding annotations, which you can find in our How to Annotate Data document.
Review your project: Once your data are ready for public release, you’ll want to review your project to make sure it’s good to go! Most importantly, make sure you have the appropriate permission and authority to share the data. Additionally, check that your data are properly annotated with metadata and that all associated details are correct.
Once all data is deposited and the embargo period ends, we’ll share your data on the NF Data Portal!
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