The Italian Social Science Data Archive is now accessible for depositing and downloading data

DASSI – Data Archive for Social Sciences in Italy is fully operational and available to the scientific community and the public: the first service in Italy dedicated to the curation, preservation, and secure long-term sharing of social science research data.

After developing the infrastructure and support services, the archive is now available to social science researchers to deposit their datasets and to anyone who wishes to consult and freely download the data already made available, in accordance with Open Science principles and the European standards defined by the CESSDA – Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives.

DASSI is the result of a shared effort that began in 2021 between the National Research Council (CNR-DSU, CNR-IRPPS, and CNR-ISTC) and the University of Milan-Bicocca.

What does this mean for social science researchers?
Sharing one’s datasets represents an opportunity for researchers, who can:

• Increase the visibility of their results: deposited data are anonymized, distributed in open formats, and well documented through metadata and accompanying materials so that they can be found, understood, and correctly cited.

• Meet European open access requirements, by offering secure deposition, comprehensive documentation, appropriate licenses, and a DOI for each dataset. It also ensures management compliant with FAIR standards and long-term preservation, facilitating reporting and responsible data reuse.

• Receive assistance and support during the dataset upload and sharing process: researchers are supported throughout the data deposition process and in the assignment of usage licenses by staff with expertise in the social sciences domain, who can provide specific guidance to improve data usability.

What does this mean for society?
DASSI is a strategic resource for society as a whole because it makes reliable, documented, and verified social research data available, helping to understand complex phenomena and to guide informed decision-making.

For policy makers, DASSI provides direct support for the design and evaluation of public policies: anonymized, standardized, and comparable data enable more accurate analyses and more effective decisions.

For journalism, access to certified datasets means being able to report on reality based on solid evidence, countering misinformation and improving the quality of public debate.

For citizens, the availability of open data promotes transparency, participation, and awareness of social issues that affect everyday life – from inequalities to services, from work to well-being.

In this way, DASSI helps to build a more open, democratic, and quality-oriented information ecosystem. With DASSI, Italian social science datasets enter a structured, secure, and quality-oriented European ecosystem.

A resource designed for social science researchers, addressed to society at large, and dedicated to fostering the growth of open research in Italy.