The Open Data Commons
Welcome to the Open Data Commons
The Open Data Commons (ODC) is a cloud-based community-governed repository to store, share, and publish research data on Spinal Cord Injury (odc-sci.org) and Traumatic Brain Injury (odc-tbi.org). The ODC team is constituted of a multidisciplinary group of individuals highly committed to to Open Science:
The ODC would not exist without the support of several institutions. We are thankful for all the support and funding that make this project possible:
Why the ODCs?
The SCI community created the ODC-SCI repository to mitigate dark data in SCI research. This was followed by the creation of the ODC-TBI repository. The ODC aims to increase transparency with individual-level data, enhance collaboration, facilitate analytics, and conform to increasing mandates by funders and publishers to make data accessible. The ODC implements stewardship principles that scientific data be made FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and has been widely adopted by the international SCI and TBI research communities.
The ODC is a protected space to store and share data with your colleagues and the public. Access to data is protected and restricted through a combination of the user Account Type, Lab User Role, and Data Storage Space. To upload data, you must belong to a Verified Laboratory (Lab Space) on the ODC.
Personal Space (uploaded data is accessible to the uploader and the PI of the Lab Space)
Lab Space (uploaded data is accessible to all members of the Lab Space)
Community Space (uploaded data is accessible to all registered Community Members)
Public Space (uploaded data is accessible to the general public*)
*Anyone can view the list of public datasets and their accompanying metadata at anytime without a user account. Downloading data from the Public Space requires a user account - this ensures that data users agree to the ODC data use agreement and terms & conditions.
Each Lab Space is managed by a Principal Investigator (PI), who approves membership to their lab and manages the sharing and publication of their lab's datasets. A dataset is uploaded by default into the user’s Personal Space, where it can then be moved freely between the Personal (most restricted access) and Lab Space. The Laboratory PI can choose to make a dataset available to the research community by sharing to the Community Space, or make it public and citable through the DOI request process; once reviewed and approved, the PI controls the release of the dataset to the Public Space (least restricted access).
Learn more about the purpose of the different ODC Data Spaces
What Data is Accepted?
The ODC accepts any Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) associated datasets submitted in .csv (comma-separated values) file format (i.e., tabular data in spreadsheet format). This includes in vivo and in vitro data. Human data must be de-identified prior to uploading to the ODC.
Every dataset published on the ODCs contains three basic elements:
The Subject Data File
The Data Dictionary File
Narrative Metadata
Learn more about the Elements of an ODC Dataset
Data uploaders can choose to submit an optional methodology file (in .doc or .pdf file format) and/or supplementary files (in .pdf, .csv, .jpg, .png, and .gif file formats) to accompany uploaded datasets. The ODC does not currently support upload of raw imaging datasets (e.g., microscopy, CT, MRI).
To ensure data is FAIR, the ODC implements basic formatting and data reporting requirements.
It is the user's responsibility to make sure they have the right permissions to upload data. For human data, users are responsible for the de-identification and for all documentation required for sharing data. To learn more, read the ODC terms of use
Why Share Data?
There are several challenges to scientific reproducibility and bench-to-bedside translation. For example, only research and published data are disseminated, a phenomenon known as publication bias. Published research reflects only a tiny fraction of all data collected. Data that do not lead to publication are largely ignored, hidden in filing cabinets and hard drives. This results in an abundance of inaccessible scientific data known as “dark data.” When research is disseminated, it is usually in summary reports of aggregated data (e.g., averages across individual subjects) such as scientific articles.
Visit our Publications page to read more about the ODC
View Our Get Started Tutorials
Follow this collection of tutorials to learn the basics of getting started on the ODC as quickly as possible
Get StartedDive a Little Deeper
Learn more about the ODC
Principles of the ODCBenefits of Data SharingData Protection & Privacy in the ODCLast updated
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