This Data Guide is aimed at those engaged in the cycle of social science research, from applying for a research grant, through the data collection phase, and ultimately to preparation of the data for deposit in the DANS data archive, or any other data repository. This publication is an adaption of the 4th edition of the Guide to social science data preparation and archiving of 2009, published by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan in the United States. The publication is intended to help researchers manage and document their data to prepare them for archival deposit, as well as think more broadly about the types of digital content that should be deposited in an archive.DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services) is the national organization in the Netherlands for storing and providing permanent access to research data from the humanities and social sciences. DANS comprises existing data archives but also works on further developments of the data infrastructure in new fields.