When describing your own research data, a best practice is to create a READme file that fully describes your data. A READme file should contain the following sections:
- General Information
- Data & File Overview
- Data Description or Data Dictionary
- Methodological Information
In the General Information section you should include at least the following information:
- Title of the Dataset
- Author information
- Limits or restrictions on the data resuse
- Funding information, if applicable
In the Data & File Overview section, you should explain the file structure of your data, listing all of the files in your dataset. Additionally, you should explain the file naming convention used for your files.
The Data Description or Data Dictionary defines the variables, abbreviations, and null values. For more information on a making Data Dictionary see the box below.
Finally, in the Methodological Information section, include information about:
- How and when the data was collected and/or created
- Software used to generate the data and if applicable, required to access it
- Equipment used to generate the data, if applicable
Below find a template for a generic READme template you can use to describe your data. Please note that if you are depositing to a specific repository or have additional information required by your specialty, you may need a more specialized READme file template.
