Library Guides: Research Data Management: Find a Data Repository

Data Repositories

Repositories can help you:

manage your data
cite your data by supplying a persistent identifier
facilitate discovery of your data
preserve your data over time

Selecting Your Repository

In choosing a repository for your data, first consider:

Does your funder or a publisher require or suggest a specific repository?
See our Research Funder Requirements page for information on some of the common funders.
Is there a repository specific for your discipline or type of data?
The Registry of Research Data Repositories can be helpful in browsing options.

While there are many options to choose from, we’ve highlighted a small set of trusted repositories – Harvard Dataverse, Zenodo, and Dryad – to help researchers quickly review key features in making their decisions.

Please refer to each repository’s documentation for the most current information.

Repository Comparison Chart

Data Repository Chart

	Harvard Dataverse	Zenodo	Dryad
File management
File & dataset size limits	2.5GB/file; 1TB per researcher	50GB/dataset (contact to discuss larger datasets)	300GB/dataset (contact to discuss larger datasets)
Useful integrations	Open Science Framework (OSF); Dropbox	Github (archive a Github repo in Zenodo)	Zenodo (for software publication) Frictionless Data
Versioning support?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Persistent, unique identifier support	DOI	DOI for each version with a “Concept” and DOI to represent “all versions”	DOI
Permissions & access
Allows multiple administrators?	Yes	Yes for collections, unknown for individual items	Yes
User guestbook?	Yes	No	No
Data licensing options	CC0 default; custom Terms of Use optional	Creative Commons licenses for Open Access	CC0 required
Allows embargo?	No, on roadmap for 2021	Yes	Yes, if allowed by journal
Provides private URLs for peer review?	Yes	Yes for software through Dryad integration; unknown for other situations	Yes
Other access restrictions available?	Yes, allow access to specific accounts, and allow users to request access	Yes, limit access with custom terms of use	No
Computational access	Search API, Data Access API, and Dataverse Package for R on rOpenSci Project	OAI-PMH	REST API and Dryad Package for R on rOpenSci Project
Administrative considerations
Costs	Free up to 1TB	Free up to 50GB/dataset	Costs covered by institutional, publisher, and funder members. Otherwise a one-time $120 fee for authors for curation and preservation costs.
Usage analytics	Downloads Follows Counter Code Of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics (Make Data Count)	Views, Downloads, Data volume, Unique views, Unique downloads Follows Counter Code Of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics (Make Data Count)	Views, Downloads, Citations Follows Counter Code Of Practice for Research Data Usage Metrics (Make Data Count)
Trusted repository? *	Yes	Yes	Yes

* Trusted repositories are those that commit to providing “reliable, long-term access to managed digital resources” (RLG-OCLC, 2002). “The TRUST Principles for digital repositories” offers a useful framework – Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability and Technology – for evaluating the alignment of a repository to this mission.

Using Data From a Repository?

Cite the data to give credit to the data producer, enable others to use the data, and meet journal requirements.

We are grateful to the creators of the Generalist Repository Comparison Chart for their efforts on developing a concise comparison chart from which we took much inspiration for the content of this page.

Stall, Shelley, Martone, Maryann E., Chandramouliswaran, Ishwar, Crosas, Mercè, Federer, Lisa, Gautier, Julian, Hahnel, Mark, Larkin, Jennie, Lowenberg, Daniella, Pfeiffer, Nicole, Sim, Ida, Smith, Tim, Van Gulick, Ana E., Walker, Erin, Wood, Julie, Zaringhalam, Maryam, & Zigoni, Alberto. (2020). Generalist Repository Comparison Chart. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3946720