LibGuides: Data Management: Locating and Sharing Data

Data Repositories

The NNLM data thesaurus defines a data repository as a: "place that holds data, makes data available to use, and organizes data in a logical manner."

The NIH has guidance for selecting a repository for data resulting from NIH-supported research.

Directories to Locate Repositories

Although not comprehensive, these directories are a good place to start searching for a data repository.

re3data
Registry of Research Data Repositories. Searchable interface but can also browse by subject, content type and country.
FAIRsharing.org
The collections link can be used to find both domain and generalist repositories as well as those recommended by specific journals, funders, and organizations.
Repository Finder
This resource can limit to the repositories in re3data that meet the criteria of the Enabling FAIR Data Project and FAIRsFAIR Project.
Data Portals
A browsable list of open data portals from around the world (not searchable).

Generalist Repositories

These repositories host data regardless of type, format, content, or subject matter. Note: the below is not an exhaustive list; see the generalist repositories listed on the NIH page for additional suggestions.

This c omparison chart may be helpful when considering more than one repository.

DRYAD
Nonprofit data repository. Dryad has a team of curators who check every submission to ensure the validity of files and metadata. A data publishing charge of $120 may apply (additional fees may apply to submissions in excess of 50GB). There is a limit of 300GB per data publication uploaded through the web interface (larger submissions are accepted but require technical assistance).
figshare
Free account allows upload of files up to 5GB space and 20 GB of free private space. Blinded links can be created for peer review.
NIH figshare Archive
This figshare instance was a yearlong pilot project that ended in 2020, but the uploaded research is still searchable.
Harvard Dataverse
All researchers from any discipline, both inside and out of the Harvard Community, can deposit files of up to 2.5GB, and store up to 1TB of data.
Mendeley Data
Posted datasets are currently moderated to ensure the content constitutes research data, is scientific in nature, and doesn’t solely contain a previously published research article. Personal accounts have a maximum limit of 10 GB per dataset.
Zenodo
Developed by CERN under the EU FP7 project OpenAIREplus. Currently accept up to 50GB per dataset and users may deposit restricted files with the ability to share access with others if certain requirements are met.

Domain-Specific Repositories

This is a selective list of domain-specific resources, including genomics and clinical. To locate more, please use the directories listed above or reach out to a librarian.

Open NIH-supported domain-specific data repositories
Repositories in this list have current NIH funding, sustained support, open data submission and access, and open time frame for data deposit.
Other NIH-supported domain-specific resources
This list includes repositories that restrict data submission to a specific set of researchers, as well as those that limit who may access the data.

Other Resources

Pitt Data Catalog (PDC)
Allows University of Pittsburgh health sciences researchers to share and discover datasets, software, and code. The PDC is NOT a repository. Instead, it resembles a library catalog—each record describes a dataset with relevant information and provides instructions for access.
Google Dataset Search
Enables users to find datasets, no matter their location, through a familiar interface and simple keyword search.

Citing Data

Data citations allow the impact of data to be tracked, are separate from publication citations and enable credit to be given to author(s).

Two citation templates are commonly accepted:

DataCite.org
Creator (Year): Title. Publisher. Identifier--such as a DOI.
FORCE11
Author (Year): Title. Distributor/Repository, Version. Identifier--such as a DOI.

Data Journals

Data journals are a means to share datasets and provide detailed information about the methods and instrumentation used to acquire the data. Below is a selected list of open access data journals for the health sciences. The journals that are indexed and findable in PubMed are denoted.

COVID-19 Research Data

Note: This content is not a complete or exhaustive listing of possible resources. For more resources: see the NIH Open-Access Data and Computational Resources page and HSLS MolBio COVID-19: Resources

Generalist Repositories

These resources have COVID-19 specific portals that can be used to to share, discover, reuse, and cite COVID-19 data and code.

Elsevier - COVID-19 Research Environment
Mendley Data federated search across several repositories. Datasets are organized in 4 collections: epidemiology & infectious modelling; public health, and societal and psychological impacts; genetics, genomics & molecular structure; and vaccine, prevention, diagnosis & treatment.
figshare - COVID-19 Open Research Data
Research datasets, preprints, and figures related to COVID-19.
GitHub - COVID-19 Public Repository Data
Comprehensive versioned dataset of the repositories and relevant related metadata about public projects hosted on GitHub related to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and associated COVID-19 disease.
openICPSR - COVID-19 Data Repository
Data collection focusing on the social, behavioral, public health, and economic impact of the novel coronavirus global pandemic from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
Open Science Framework - Coronavirus Outbreak Research Collection
Aggregate of COVID-19, SARS, SARS-CoV, MERS, and MERS-CoV research outputs (data and other materials).
Zenodo - Coronavirus Disease Research Community
Open access research articles and datasets related to COVID-19. Curated by a selected team of experts nominated by OpenAIRE.

Clinical Repositories

Vivli
Share your COVID-19 clinical research data. Vivli will waive all fees associated with the sharing, archiving and requesting of your COVID-19 trials.