The ethical sharing of fieldwork data - workshop materials

These powerpoint slides were part of a workshop called 'The Ethical Sharing of Fieldwork Data', organised by the Leiden University Libraries Centre for Digital Scholarship on 10 June 2026 during the Summer Training Week. The workshop was inspired by and adapted from the 2025 'Ethics of Sharing Fieldwork Data and the CARE Principles' workshop by Lushaj et al. (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15629394).

Abstract:

When we collect data to answer our research questions during fieldwork, we are generally aware that we need certain legal permissions – to work in a certain area, to collect samples, and so on. We are also generally aware of ethical aspects and especially when people are part of the study we will also have obtained approval of the ethics committee before setting off. But what about when we subsequently publish our results?

In this workshop, aimed at researchers as well as research professionals, we will look into the ethical side of sharing fieldwork data. How do you decide what data to share and what not? Are you actually the person to decide, and/or who (else) should be involved? We will do through case studies as well as by looking at the CARE principles and a CARE-inspired framework.

Target audience:

Researchers including PhD candidates and research master students; research support staff/research professionals

Level: 

Beginner

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Outline several core ethical principles relating to research involving fieldwork data
2. Outline the CARE principles and discuss how these fit with participatory and engaged research methods (especially in relation to data sharing)
3. Interpret different elements of the CARE principles and start setting out feasible paths for implementing these and/or CARE-informed data governance to case studies and/or own research data sharing
4. Share and learn from other participants’ experiences

File list:

• EthicalSharingFieldData_20260610_forsharing.pptx: This is the combined slidedeck including notes, adapted from the original version used in the workshop to only include content which is allowed to be reproduced. 
• EthicalSharingFieldData_20260610_forsharing.pdf: This is the PDF version of the combined slidedeck, adapted from the original version used in the workshop to only include content which is allowed to be reproduced. 

Related materials:

This workshop was inspired by and adapted from:

• Lushaj, B., Gelens, T., Magraw, J.-Y., Mos, A., Baloum, R.-C., & Hati Gitundu, . (Beatrice) B. (2025, June 10). Workshop on The Ethics of Sharing Fieldwork Data and the CARE Principles. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15629394
• Lushaj, B., & Magraw, J.-Y. (2026). Guidebook: The CARE Principles and Data Ethics: A practical guide for SSH researchers in The Netherlands. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17588886

Acknowledgements:

The workshop and guide this workshop was based on were created as part of the project ‘Beyond personal data: a new initiative to support early-career researchers with hard-to-share data’ with file number ICT.TDCC.001.002, which is (partly) financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) via the Thematic Digital Competence Centre Social Sciences & Humanities (TDCC-SSH).

Also many thanks to Femmy Admiraal for contributing to the workshop and to Braam Hoffmann for sharing his slides on ethics.