How to access data

e-RA provides three levels of access to data from the Rothamsted Long-term Experiments National Capability.

Open Access Datasets (OAD) Registration Datasets e-RAdata*
Registration Form N/A Register Register
Cost Free Free Free**
How long is the form? N/A Simple Detailed
Membership moderation N/A Immediate Access A team member will contact you
Login info N/A Email only: You enter your registered email address, then get an email with a link to complete your login. You are then logged in for one month, or until you log out. Username and Password: You will receive login details to log into e-RAdata
Description They can be freely downloaded and provide access to data that has been averaged across a number of years or plots curated datasets accompanied by detailed metadata and supporting documentation to support interpretation and re-use by dataset users. Provides access to additional LTE data

*e-RAdata is the new name of the e-RA Data Extraction Tool: if you already have an account with us, you do not need to reapply

**For large commercial requests we charge a fee to cover staff time for preparing a dataset.

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Open Access Datasets

Open Access datasets (OAD) are downloaded without registration or a password and provide averaged data with accompanying metadata and descriptions.

Long-term Experiment (LTE) OAD provide a simplified or summary overview of key data, findings, trends, or changes in the data averaged across a number of plots and years.

Meteorological (met) data OAD present hourly and daily data averaged to monthly or annual values.

For more detailed plot or daily data you should look for a Registration dataset or access to the e-RA database.

OAD are published with a citable DOI (a permanent unique identifier for a dataset) and are free to use under a CC-BY-4.0 license, therefore if you use the dataset you must give appropriate credit by citing the dataset using the provided citation which includes the DOI. Any reasonable changes made to the dataset must also be indicated but not in a way that suggests Rothamsted Research endorses the user or the use.

Before downloading a dataset you should read the Conditions of Use and must agree to these conditions.

How can I find Open Access Datasets?

These datasets are grouped by their LTE or meteorological station. You can find datasets either under the Experiment Data/Meteorological Data menu item above and following a link for an LTE or met station, which will display all relevant published datasets for that LTE or met station. Alternatively, under the Experiments menu item above, follow a link to an LTE or met station then click the Datasets tab. This will display the same list of published datasets.

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Registration Datasets

Registration datasets can be downloaded once completing a simple registration form. They provide data at the spatial and temporal resolution at which it was collected. The data is not normally averaged.

For LTE data, registration datasets provide access to observed and measured data values from individual plots for each year data has been collected. For met data, registration datasets provide data at recorded daily resolutions.

These are curated datasets accompanied by detailed metadata and supporting documentation to support interpretation and re-use by dataset users. However, while the e-RA curators have made every effort to provide sufficient documentation to allow users to independently use these datasets, users are still strongly encouraged to contact the e-RA Data Curators for support if needed.

These datasets are published with a citable DOI and are free to use under CC-BY-4.0 license. Users of these datasets must give appropriate credit by citing the dataset using the provided citation which includes the DOI. Any reasonable changes made to the datasets must be indicated but not in a way that suggests Rothamsted Research endorses the user or the use.

Before downloading a dataset you should read the Conditions of Use and must agree to these conditions.

How can I find Registration Datasets?

These datasets are grouped by their Long-term Experiments. You can find datasets either under the Experiments Data menu item above and following a link for an LTE. This will display all published datasets for that LTE. Alternatively under the Experiments menu item above, follow a link to an LTE then click the Datasets tab. This will display the same list of published datasets. There are currently no met data Registration datasets.

Why do I need to register to access some published datasets?

Registration is free and we ask you to register for the following reasons:

  1. It helps us to understand who is using the data and how.
  2. It allows us to measure the use and impact of the LTE data and report to our funder, the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Demonstrating continuing use and impact helps to ensure this data resource continues to be funded and the data remain accessible.
  3. This information helps us to prioritise data curation activities.
  4. You can opt in to receive updates for the datasets you use.

How does registration work?

For published datasets we aim to make the registration process as simple as possible.

  1. Complete the registration form. Most questions are optional but you must enter an email.
  2. To confirm your email is valid, a validation email will be sent to you with a confirmation link. Note, it will open in your default browser.
  3. Clicking the email confirmation link will validate your email and you can now download datasets.
  4. The e-RA website uses cookies to remember you until you either log out or your session expires (session remains active a month).
  5. When you next visit e-RA after your session has expired, login using your email and a validation email will be sent with a login link - this method means you don't need a password, just your email
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Request access to the e-RA database for original data.

The e-RA database provides access to original LTE and meteorological data once completing a Request access to e-RAdata form which registers you for a password. The database is accessible online using the password protected e-RA data extraction tool. Access is provided to researchers requesting access to data in specific datasets not included in published OAD or Registration datasets.

Before requesting access to the e-RA database, please review the published datasets as these provide many of the most widely useful and usable e-RA data.

How do I request access to the e-RA database?

To request access please complete the Request access to e-RAdata form.

after you submit your request the e-RA Data Curators will contact you to identify the right data for your research question.

Please note, if your request requires significant support and time from the e-RA Curators to help in the interpretation or preparation of datasets we may request co-authorship in any research publications. For large commercial requests we charge a fee to cover staff time for preparing a dataset.

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What data is included in OAD or Registration datasets?

For LTEs, the data provided in the published registration datasets may represent a subset of experimental treatments, crops or plots for an LTE. If this is the case, the data included is determined by the LTE data curators using the following criteria:

  1. Sufficient documentation exists to support interpretation and re-use of the data.
  2. Continuity of experiment treatments.
  3. Usefulness, importance, relevance and/or comparability of an experiment treatment to other treatments in the LTE or other LTEs.
  4. Popularity based on previous use and requests for research.

Data is excluded from the published datasets if:

  1. There is insufficient documentation to support interpretation and re-use of the data.
  2. A plot does not have continuity of treatments over time.
  3. The treatments do not have relevance or comparability to other experiment treatments.
  4. The data is not yet digitised or is still in preparation.

The digitised original data not included in published registration datasets is accessible from e-RAdata on request for access.

Rothamsted
BBSRC

For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk