What is a "documentation of data collection"?

The documentation of data collection explains the broader context of the data collection, e.g. how, when and where the data was compiled, what the data means, and may contain ethical issues, empirical challenges, and epistemological approaches. Discuss Data does not offer strict guidelines for the Documentation of Data Collection, as it is open to different methods of documenting data collections. However, Discuss Data aims to develop some minimum requirements in order to allow for a sensible discussion and to enable secondary data analysis. In compiling the documentation of data collection, Discuss Data suggests following the FAIR Data principles, which are aimed at making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

Here you can find our detailed best practices for the documentation of data collection (including examples) and here we compiled a short checklist what might be included in a documentation of data collection.