Discuss Data: A new online platform for archiving, sharing and discussing research data on the post-Soviet region

By
Felix Herrmann, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, Universität Bremen

Discuss Data is a new and innovative research data repository developed by the State and University Library Göttingen and the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen (both Germany).

Discuss Data is no ordinary repository: It addresses the need for an increasing debate within the academic community about the reliability and validity of research data, and offers a solution for managing and discussing research data in one single place. Our aim is to create a space for academic communication and for the community-specific publication, distribution, curation, and annotation of research data on the post-Soviet region. All datasets published with Discuss Data receive DOIs for citation and permanent availability.

Comprehensive Documentations of Data Collection, that are attached to the datasets and complement the metadata, contain supplementary context, foster secondary research and the evaluation of the data through the assessment of their quality, their contextualisation and discussion.

Thus, we enable the international community of experts to check data quality, in case of missing data to recommend alternative data sources, and to extensively discuss the interpretation and application of data. 
Discuss Data is open to qualitative and quantitative data. Currently, data on corruption, elites, protests, and social policy form our thematical focal points. If you are interested in submitting your data, please see our Call for Data. The submission of datasets on other topics is possible as well.
Discuss Data is also offering a limited amount of Data Preparation Grants.

The first published data collections can be viewed and accessed here: https://discuss-data.net/dataset/search/

For more information, please visit our website: https://discuss-data.net/.

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