Open for All? Addressing the Need for Regulating Access in the Disciplinary Repository PsychArchives

Accommodating a variety of digital research objects, including articles, preprints, research data, code, supplements, and multimedia objects, PsychArchives, the disciplinary repository for psychological science, requires a differentiated sharing level concept regulating access to and usage rights of repository content. Data sharing according to the FAIR principles is called for by more and more funding institutions, such as the European Research Council (ERC), and is increasingly a prerequisite for the publication of scientific articles in professional journals. At the same time, researchers are expected to follow recommendations on data sharing, e.g. by the German Psychological Society (DGPs), which – taking into account European and national data protection laws – postulate that a restriction of access to research data is sometimes warranted. Providing a solution for this complex situation, PsychArchives offers a number of different sharing levels, ranging from open and immediate access to more restrictive access categories. Each sharing level is equipped with specific licensing options. Allowing for the allocation of sharing levels on the level of individual files, PsychArchives presents a flexible and granular solution for archiving and making accessible psychological research output in line with best practice standards, recommendations by scientific societies as well as ethical and data protection requirements.