SciLifeLab Data Repository User Guidelines
The SciLifeLab Data Repository is intended for use by researchers at Swedish academic institutions working in life science.
Getting an account
If you are employed at a Swedish university, you can use the SWAMID authentication (institutional credentials) process to log in to the SciLifeLab Data Repository and an account is automatically created for you. If you do not have a university affiliation, please email figshare@scilifelab.se and an account may be created for you.
If you already have a figshare.com account you can migrate its content to your account at the SciLlifeLab Data Repository. To do this, please email figshare@scilifelab.se and we will assist you. After the content has been migrated, you might be given suggestions on improvements that could be done to your migrated items in order to fulfil the standards of the SciLifeLab Data Repository.
How to log in
To log in, go to the SciLifeLab Data repository and click on the red Log in button in the top right side of the screen. You will then be redirected to use your institutional credentials through the SWAMID authentication procedure.
Non-affiliated users can log in at https://scilifelab.figshare.com/account/login.
Profile
You can make several changes to your profile on your SciLifeLab Data Repository account, such as adding information about your job title, field of interest and location.
ORCID
It is encouraged that you, if you have an ORCID, connect your ORCID to your SciLifeLab Data repository account. An ORCID is a persistent digital identifier for researchers, and allows you to be uniquely identified so that your work is accurately attributed to you.
To connect and enable syncing of your ORCID go to Profile and the section called “Professional details”.
Quota
By default, every user is assigned a quota of 50 GB, but they can request an increase of their quota if more is needed. Every request will be evaluated by administrators. Administrators cannot modify quota directly for a user, but once the user has put in a quota request, an administrator can choose to approve, modify or reject it. To request more quota, the user needs to go to the My data tab, click on the request more storage link located above the table listing items, add a reason for the request and press the Submit button.
Projects
Projects are collaborative spaces used for ongoing work. You can upload data that is in progress and have collaborators make comments. You can also collaborate with people outside SciLifeLab by inviting them to your project. Please note that the project owner and members cannot edit another uploader’s items. Items must be downloaded, edited, and re-uploaded to the project. To create a project, go to My Data, select the Projects tab and click on the +Create a new project button.
Project members can either be collaborators or viewers. Invite members with existing accounts (institutional or figshare.com) by using the search function. The invited members will see their invite under the Activity tab. When they accepted the invitation the project will appear under their Projects tab. Invite members without an account by clicking on the “invite new users” link. The invited members will receive an email including a link to create a figshare.com account. Outside of the scope of a project, users with figshare.com accounts will publish their items on figshare.com and their future work won’t be associated with SciLifeLab.
There are two different types of projects: individual projects and group projects. The person creating the project will be the owner of the project regardless of project type chosen
| Individual Projects | Group Projects |
| Everyone uses their own quota and account storage. | Submitters’ quota will not be used, storage allocation comes directly from the project. |
| People take their work with them if they leave the project. | All work is stored on institutional storage and remains within the project space if people leave. |
| Items are created using the metadata schema of the submitter. | Contributors must adopt the metadata schema of the project owner. |
| Items appear in the group chosen in the review process. | Items appear in the group chosen in the review process. It is recommended for this to be the same group as chosen for the project. |
| Items published by users from outside the organisation don’t have to go through review. | Items published by users from outside the organisation have to go through review. |
In order to add a new item to a project, select Add a new item, which takes you to the metadata form. Once you have saved the item, it will appear in the home page of the project. If you wish to add an item from My data to an existing or newly created project, you can do this by selecting the item/s, clicking Actions (located just above) and selecting the desired project destination.
Collections
Collections are ways of collating uploaded items and bringing it together under a theme. They can be either private or public and can be assigned a DOI for the entire collection.
To create a collection, go to My Data, select the Collections tab and click on the +Create a new collection button. Data can be added to a collection in two ways; (1) by adding items held under the My data tab in your account, and/or (2) by adding public items . When adding public items, you can search for and select items from SciLifeLab. You can also choose to include content from figshare.com in the search by ticking the box next to incl. content from Figshare, and add items from there into the collection.
Here are some examples of what a collection could include:
- Multiple items that include research output from a given study.
- All of the work produced using a particular grant.
- All of the presentations and resources from a conference/workshop that you hosted.
- All data and outputs from a publication.
Groups can include projects, collections and/or items, whereas projects and collections contain items. The metadata field Group is used to collect research from, for instance, a research group, a SciLifeLab platform or a SciLifeLab unit, all at one place. Collections, by contrast, can be used to bring together smaller sets of items, for example, a given study completed by a group. Projects, on the other hand, can be used to collaborate on ongoing work that is not yet published.