Research Guides: Data Storage and Repositories: Finding a Data Repository and General Repositories

Data Services

For more information or for assistance, please contact Data Services at datalib@uark.edu.

Locating Data Repositories

A number disciplines have developed their own repositories. The value of these repositories are in the availability and familiarity with researchers within the discipline and the subject specific metadata searching capabilities and ontologies.

Here are several tools that may help you identify subject specific data repositories:

Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded Research
Latest guidance from the Subcommittee on Open Science of the National Science and Technology Council. May 2022
Repository Finder
Repository Finder, a pilot project of the Enabling FAIR Data Project led by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in partnership with DataCite and the Earth, space and environment sciences community, can help you find an appropriate repository to deposit your research data. The tool is hosted by DataCite and queries the re3data registry of research data repositories.
re3data
The largest and most comprehensive registry of data repositories available on the web.
Open Access Directory - Disiplinary Repositories
A list created and distributed by Simmons University
UC Irvine - Data Repositories Guide
Suggests potential data repositories for: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Atmospheric Sciences & Climatology, Biology & Life Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Engineering, Geoscience & Geospatial Data, Health & Medical Sciences, Humanities, Oceanography, Physics, Social Sciences

General Data Repositories

General repositories are often recommended by publishers as well as granting agencies for the deposit of data related to research studies. The following are often recommended

Dryad
"The Dryad Digital Repository is a curated resource that makes research data discoverable, freely reusable, and citable. Dryad provides a general-purpose home for a wide diversity of data types.
Dryad originated from an initiative among a group of leading journals and scientific societies to adopt a joint data archiving policy (JDAP) for their publications, and the recognition that open, easy-to-use, not-for-profit, community-governed data infrastructure was needed to support such a policy."
figshare
"A repository where users can make all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner. figshare features aim to help you organize your research and get as much impact for it as possible, without adding time or effort to your day."
Harvard Dataverse
“Harvard Dataverse is a free data repository open to all researchers from any discipline, both inside and outside of the Harvard community, where you can share, archive, cite, access, and explore research data. You can open your data to the general public, or restrict access and define customizable terms of use.”

ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
Covers: 1962- (some historical series are older). The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), established in 1962, maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. The ICPSR archive offers a large number of data sets on social attitudes, opinions, and behaviors, as well as census and other statistical sources.

Mendeley Data
"Mendeley Data is an open research data repository, where researchers can upload and share their research data. Datasets can be shared privately amongst individuals, as well as published to share with the world. Search 26+ million datasets from domain-specific and cross-domain repositories."
openICPSR
As the University of Arkansas subscribes to ICPSR, we may submit to ICPSR itself; however, please note that openICPSR offers truly open availability for data - whether it be through research centers, journals, or individuals
Open Science Framework
"OSF is a free and open source project management tool that supports researchers throughout their entire project lifecycle. As a collaboration tool, OSF helps research teams work on projects privately or make the entire project publicly accessible for broad dissemination. As a workflow system, OSF enables connections to the many products researchers already use, streamlining their process and increasing efficiency."
Zenodo
"An open repository for all scholarship, enabling researchers from all disciplines to share and preserve their research outputs, regardless of size or format. Free to upload and free to access, Zenodo makes scientific outputs of all kinds citable, shareable and discoverable for the long term"