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Data Management

Data Repositories

The NNLM data glossary defines a repository as a: "tool to share, preserve, and discover research outputs, including but not limited to data or datasets".  

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.  

Generalist Repositories

Generalist 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 comparison chart may be helpful when considering more than one repository. 

Domain-Specific Repositories

Domain-Specific repositories are designed to fit the needs of specific research fields or datatypes.

Note: the below is a very selective list; to locate more, please use the directories listed above, reach out to a librarian, or see the domain-specific repositories listed on the NIH page. The repositories on the NIH page include both those funded by NIH and those with no NIH funding. Filters are available to limit the repositories by such properties as ICO and access type (controlled, open, registered). 


The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) repository includes data from a range of disciplines including sociology, education, gerontology, criminal justice, public health, foreign policy, health and medical care, education, child care research, law, and substance abuse. ICPSR also hosts several sponsored projects focusing on specific disciplines or topics including the National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP), National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA), and the Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR).

Note: The University of Pittsburgh is a member institution of ICPSR, which allows researchers to download ICPSR data at no charge (creation of a personal account on campus is required to fully access all ICPSR features).   

Other Resources

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).

A commonly accepted citation templates is listed below:

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.