Deposit data

SWISSUbase, the online platform used by FORS, allows you to deposit your data in order to share it with other researchers, while ensuring their long-term preservation and respecting FAIR principles.

FORS has obtained, for the second time, the CoreTrustSeal certification.

The CoreTrustSeal is a globally recognized certification awarded to organizations that have demonstrated their dedication to responsible data stewardship and excellence in data management practices. By obtaining this seal, FORS has officially confirmed its adherence to rigorous international standards and best practices for ensuring the authenticity, integrity, and reliability of research data. You can see a copy of the certificat here.

What kind of data can be shared through SWISSUbase?

  • SWISSUbase is meant for all social science disciplines and is suitable for depositing all types of quantitative and qualitative data, including sensitive and experimental data.

For more details, see our Acquisition policy.

What are the advantages of using SWISSUbase?

  • SWISSUbase is a reliable and sustainable Swiss platform. The FORS data archiv follows the FAIR principles and is CoreTrustSeal
  • You may choose among several options to keep control of your data (prior agreement, embargoed data, restrictions of use) and your rights are protected (user agreement and contracts).
  • Your data is documented according to international standards. A DOI is assigned to your dataset and your visibility increases as it gets cited.
  • You will receive support from expert archivists and enjoy free services throughout your data’s entire life cycle.

For more details about our services, see SWISSUbase benefits.

How to prepare your data for deposit?

  • You must provide secondary users with all the information they need to understand and make appropriate use of the data you share. This means that your data files must be cleaned, anonymized, and accompanied with suitable documentation.

For more information on data preparation, see our guide Preparing your data for deposit in SWISSUbase.

How to deposit your data?

  • To deposit your data in SWISSUbase, you must first create a project, then a dataset. The latter consists of at least one data set and the associated documentation.

For more information on data deposit, see our SUB end-user guide.

If you wish to explore or reuse data from other social science research on various topics, check our catalog via SWISSUbase. For more information on how to access the data, click here.

To access European social science research data, consult the data catalog of CESSDA, the Consortium of European Archives with which FORS collaborates and which contains the metadata of all data held by partner archives.