Why should I deposit my data on a repository?
An open access repository stores digital objects and makes them available (with their descriptive documentation and metadata) and downloadable. It’s accessible and interoperable through a OAI-PMH protocol and it deploys a long-term archiving policy.
Depositing and sharing your data on a digital repository is necessary for gurataneeing findability and accessibility. The FAIR compliant research data repository will enhance the interoperability and reuse of your data (for other researchers, but also for your future-self!), ensuring verifiability and reproducibility of research results.
Moreover, upload on open repositories is increasingly demanded by funders and scientific journals, and some national research evaluation agencies, in alignment with the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)
Repositories can be divided into: discipline-specific, institutional and generic . Check this selection flowchart or use the diagram on the left to navigate in the choice of the most suitable repository for your data:
- If your data contains sensitive information that cannot be anonymized, you should deposit it on a controlled access repository; for instance, it can be the case of heavy genomic data, which can be securely deposited on archives like the European EGA.
- If your data does not include sensitive information or you are able to anonymize it, different tools can be used to conduct this investigation: OpenDOAR, FAIRsharing and re3data (the registry of research data repositories recommended by the European Commission). They allow to search for the suitable repository.
- Use the repository at your institution, such as Dataverse UNIMI, the FAIR research data repository of the University of Milan.
- If your institution does not have a data repository, use a generic repository: check the Generalist repository comparison chart to navigate in the diverse possibilities.
Whilst browsing for the most suitable repository for your data, always bear in mind to check the following criteria and whether the repository has the following characteristics:
- Is the long-term preservation of data and metadata guarenteed? Look for the condition of long term preservation.
- Does the repository assign/include Persisten Identifiers (PIDs)? For example DOI or handle for datasets.
- What is the default license? For example in Dataverse UNIMI the default license is CC0 (public domain)
- Is the repository certified? For example, Dataverse UNIMI has obtained the CoreTrustSeal which guarantees the trustworthiness of the repository itself and the quality of th deposited data.
- Is there support staff to assist and help you when using the repository? For example, Dataverse UNIMI has a full-time support staff, check how to contact us here.
- Are there any storage costs involved? Costs should be taken into consideration amongst the allocation of resources in your Data Management Plan.
- Does the repository have a clear policy and easilyy findable terms and conditions?
- Is there a descriptive and standard metadata set accompanying the datasets? Metadata is crucial for research data.
- Are there any limits to the total storage size of data files? Some repositories might not be able to host excessively large datasets.
Finally, you can also consider publishing your dataset in a peer-reviewed data journal: this will enhance the transparency of the adopted methods and results.
Examples of generic data journals:
Examples of disciplinary data journals: