What is a data repository? A research data repository is a virtual place to store and preserve research data. Data repositories also make data sets from research available for use and further study. A data repository can focus on general collections of data from various subjects, or it can be discipline-specific with data from select subjects or areas of research. Like other types of collections, a data repository may limit the data in their collections to those from research done within their institution or organization (also known as institutional data repositories) or only may accept data collections that fall within their area of practice.
Why post data in a repository? Many researchers deposit their data in repositories for sharing and preservation purposes. Some publishers (e.g., Nature) or grant funders require the sharing of research data. Sharing data through repositories also have the same benefits as sharing articles and publications: the work is easily discoverable, resulting in more views, citations, and impact.
Things to consider when choosing a data repository:
Suitability and Reliability
Is the repository a good fit for your data? What type of data is it and who do you want to find it? Is the repository a reputable source? Check to see if it is endorsed by a funding agency, scholarly journal, professional society, or library, or if it is listed in the Registry of Research Data Repositories.
Visibility and Preservation
You’ll want to ensure the depository you select will be providing access to your data for well over 5 years, make sure that the repository has a plan for long-term viability and data governance. Ensure your data repository offers a DOI (digital object identifier), handle, or another unique identifier. and also obtain a unique identifier that others can use to cite your data, this will increase the visibility of your data within the scholarly literature and allows researchers to find it later on.
Formats
Most data repositories are able to handle most formats; however, this doesn’t always guarantee that they’ll be able to work with your data. Be sure to take a look at the repository's documentation to ensure they can store the data you’ve generated.
Rights
Know your rights! Take time out to read the terms of use and to understand what permissions you’re giving the data repository. For instance, does your data repository use common licensing agreements (again, like Creative Commons) that will help others understand what they can and cannot do with your data?
Attribution: Parts of this text is taken from https://www.bu.edu/data/share/selecting-a-data-repository/
Finding, listing, and keeping up with all the repositories in existence is best done by directories. A few we recommend:
A few examples of data repositories are:
A large, online data repository spanning many subjects in the social sciences, education, arts and humanities, and healthcare.
PubMed Central and the NCBI Bookshelf offer several large datasets of journal articles and other scientific publications made available for retrieval under license terms that generally allow for more liberal redistribution and reuse than a traditional copyrighted work (e.g., Creative Commons licenses).
Formerly known as Humanities Commons.
Collects data, documents, and more in social sciences and the humanities.
Data respository for earth science.
Repository for publication-related High-Energy Physics data.
A free and open platform for sharing MRI, MEG, EEG, iEEG, and ECoG data.
With an emphasis in science, Zenodo includes other areas. It also integrates with GitHub and provides altmetrics on items in its collection.
