Publishing
Publish safe outputs and tell us about your publications.
Your final outputs and making them safe
Final outputs intended for publication can be removed only after careful Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) checks by Secure Data Service expert staff. We apply SDC guidelines approved by the European Statistical System Network (ESSNet) - a collection of National Statistics Institutes from around Europe. These have been adopted by a number of data enclaves around the world.
SDC aims to prevent identification of an individual, household or organisation from your work. For example, if you present your results to a conference, SDC will ensure that nobody in the audience could identify an individual, household or organisation from your presentation.
SDC is one way we can ensure that access to confidential data is secure. Without SDC, there are risks that:
- confidential information is made publicly available (in breach of legislation)
- this release of information harms individuals or organisations
- survey-response rates fall dramatically as the public are concerned about the security of information held about them (adversely affecting research)
We provide you with practical training so you are aware of SDC rules when analysing data and preparing outputs. When your outputs are ready for publication, follow the guidance in Your Guide to Using the Secure Data Service to let us know that they are ready to be checked. For advice on SDC, contact one of the Senior Data and Support Services officers.
Tell us about your publications
It is a requirement of the service that you let us know about any publications using outputs from Secure Data Service data. This information is of interest to other researchers, to data owners and funders, and can help to demonstrate the impact, and justify the continuing existence, of particular surveys and the service as a whole. Information about publications is made available in the relevant records in the Data Library and will also be made available on our web site, providing our community with a platform to publicise its research. Contact us with the details of any publications - where relevant provide a bibliographic citation and online link.
Outputs are checked in accordance with Statistical Disclosure Control principles established by the ONS Virtual Microdata Laboratory and incorporated by the ESSNet.
How to cite data in your publications
When you publish (e.g in a report, journal article, presentation), include an acknowledgement/citation referring to the source of data you have analysed, along with the owner of the data.
Your guide to using the Secure Data Service
This guide is for researchers using the system with their Member Logon.