The Dataverse Network hosts many distinct types of dataverses. Each dataverse can contain any number of studies, and each study can contain any number of data set files. Within a dataverse, studies can be organized into collections. A dataverse also can contain links to collections of studies in other dataverses.
You can browse, search, and view contents of released dataverses within the Network, or of any dataverse or study that you have permission to access. To view the contents of a dataverse, study, or collection, click the title that you choose to view. The contents are expanded and displayed below the selected entity.
Authors and administrators control access to content by using dataverse, study, and file settings and Terms of Use. For example, you can view data files for any study that is set as Released and is available to the public, or for any study that you have permission to access.
For each study you can view two distinct sets of information: the Cataloging Information and the list of study files.
Status and permission settings can apply independently to the following: Dataverses, Studies, and Study files
In addition, Terms of Use can apply at any level: Network, dataverse, or study.
When a dataverse is created, it is set as not released. A dataverse that is not released can be viewed or accessed only by a Dataverse Admin, Curator, or Contributor for that dataverse, or by any user granted permission explicitly to access it. It appears on the Coming Soon tab in the Dataverse Network. When work on the dataverse is complete and the site is set to released, it then appears on the Now Available tab in the Dataverse Network. Any user can view or access the dataverse after it is released.
Permissions can be granted to access a dataverse that is not released.
Note: When a user browses or searches a Dataverse Network, all studies and collections in a dataverse that is not released are omitted from any list of search results.
A study is created within a dataverse, and the initial status of that study is New. When the Contributor (author) determines that work on the study is complete, that user changes the status to In Review. A Curator or Dataverse Admin then reviews the study and changes the status to Released. Any user can view or access that study.
For each study within a dataverse, permissions can be set to Restricted or Public for access to that study. Permissions can be granted to specific users or groups to access Restricted studies, and a setting can be enabled to enable users to request access to Restricted studies.
For each file within a study, permissions can be set to Restricted or Public for access to that file. Permissions can be granted to specific users or groups to access Restricted files.
Dataverses, studies, and data files can have user restrictions applied. If prompted to accept Terms of Use, click the check box and then click the Continue button to view or download the information you chose.
Terms of Use are customizable and can apply at any of three levels:
If a Network has Terms of Use applied to general use, then each time you log in to the Network you must accept the terms before you can access any options.
If a Network has Terms of Use applied to data uploads or downloads, then any study in that Network includes those terms. When you select a study from a Network with terms applied to data downloads, you accept the terms to download the files. You also must accept terms when you add a study or file to a dataverse in a Network with terms applied to study creation.
If a dataverse has Terms of Use applied to data uploads or downloads, then any study in that dataverse includes those terms. You must accept the terms to add or download files.
When Terms of Use are applied at the Network or dataverse level, for the first study file that you view or add in the Network or dataverse you must accept the terms one time per session in the Network.
Individual studies also can have Terms of Use applied. When you select a study with terms applied and view the Cataloging Information tab, a Terms of Use section appears at the bottom of the tab. Click the blue down-arrow to view the Terms of Use on this tab. If you choose to view, subset, or download any study files or data sets from a study with terms applied, first you must accept the terms.
When terms are applied at the study level, for the first file that you view or download in the study you must accept the terms one time per session in the Network.
When a study is created, a set of metadata is associated with that study. This metadata is called the Cataloging Information for the study. When you select a study to view it, you first see the Cataloging Information tab listing the metadata associated with that study. This is the default view of a study.
Cataloging Information contains numerous fields that help to describe the study. The amount of information you find for each study varies, based on what was entered by the author (Contributor) or Curator of that study. For example, one study might display the distributor, related material, and geographic coverage. Another study might display only the authors and the abstract. Every study includes the Citation Information fields in the Cataloging Information.
Note: A comprehensive list of all Cataloging Information fields is provided in the List of Metadata.
Cataloging Information is divided into four sections. These sections and their details are displayed only when the author (Contributor) or Curator provides the information when creating the study. Sections consist of the following:
When you view a study, click the Documentation, Data and Analysis tab to view a list of all electronic files associated with the study that were provided by the author or Curator.
A study might contain documentation files and data files. When you upload data files of the type .dta, .sav, or .por to the Network, they are converted to .tab tab-delimited files. These .tab files are subsettable, and can be subsetted and analyzed online by using the Dataverse Network application.
You can identify a subsettable data file by the Subsetting label and the number of cases and variables listed next to the file name. Other files that also contain data might be associated with a study, but the Dataverse Network application does not recognize them as data (or subsettable) files.
You can view a formatted citation for any of the following entities within the DVN application:
Note: For individual variables within a data subset, you can view the UNF for that variable. This is not a full citation for the variable, but it is one component of that citation.