How to do more

GitHub is a widely used version control repository primarily for code. Linking your OPAL and GitHub accounts allows you to make public the code associated with a research output, and make clear which version of the code you used.

On the My data page, next to the ‘+Create a new item’ button is the Octocat GitHub icon. Clicking on the icon takes you to a page that will state you have no connected GitHub accounts. Click the ‘Connect’ button. You will be prompted to login to GitHub. Once logged in the next page asks you to click on the ‘Authorize application’ button which allows your OPAL account to connect to your GitHub account. This will take you back to OPAL and display your GitHub repositories. To import, select the repositories then click ‘Import selected repos.’ You will then have the option of adding further information or closing the item.

OPAL is indexed by Google and Bing, and is searchable via figshare.com. You can increase the discoverability of your research by ensuring that your keywords are relevant and specific to your topic, and that you have fully described your work by filling in as many of the fields as possible

All published files on OPAL are publicly accessible online and reusable by others under your chosen licence unless you have made the files confidential.

Only you can view your private research files before you publish. They are not visible or accessible by anyone else. However, if you are part of a OPAL project, you can elect to allow project team members to view and download your unpublished research files.

All files uploaded through OPAL are stored through CloudStor, a file sharing and cloud storage solution for the research and education sector.

All users across La Trobe University will start with 10GB of storage. If you are approaching the maximum of your initially allocated space, you can request more storage.

On the My Data tab you will see how much storage you have under the Activities tab. Placing your cursor on the allocation brings up a link (Request more?). Click this link, fill in your new quota and hit submit. Your request will be sent to a OPAL administrator for consideration.

OPAL offers two types of embargo. You can apply the embargo to the files only meaning that the description will be publicly visible but the research files themselves will not be. You can also apply the embargo to the whole item meaning that both the description and the research files will not be publicly available until the embargo has expired. You can embargo the research output either by a set period (1 month, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months or 2 years) or by using the calendar to select a specific date. Regardless of which method you choose, the published item will clearly state that an embargo currently applies, and provide a countdown to the end of the embargo.

By doing this you will be able to provide the publisher with a DOI of where the data will be made available, without revealing any of your work until you are ready. You can always edit the embargo date as long as the item has not been published.

For more information on embargoes watch the figshare video.