Research Data Management

Repository Selection

At the end of your project, plan to preserve your data in a data repository. Your first choice should be a discipline- or data-specific repository used and valued by your research community, as submissions to these repositories increase the visibility of your data among colleagues. In some cases, journals or funding organizations will require a specific data repository.

For most other data, we recommend the general-purpose repository Dryad. UO Libraries has recently partnered with Dryad to offer professionally curated data deposits for free to all UO researchers. Dryad allows unlimited deposits of up to 300 GB. To learn more about which data sets are appropriate for uploading to Dryad, see the repository’s official requirements.

You can get cited for your data by publishing your data via a digital repository:

In many repositories, data can be embargoed for a specific period of time in order to comply with journal policies or to allow the depositor time to complete publications associated with the data. Each repository will have its own embargo policies.

Curation Assistance

As a part of our Dryad membership, UO researchers receive curation assistance through Dryad. If you wish to deposit to another repository, UO Libraries can offer assistance with curation and metadata when depositing to such repositories.

Possible Costs

Some repositories charge a fee for data deposits ranging from one hundred to several thousand dollars. ICPSR, for example, charges for deposit but offers intensive curation, including migrating your data to updated file formats appropriate to your discipline and mediating access to datasets containing confidential information. If a fee-based repository is appropriate for your data, consider writing repository fees into your grant proposal.

Other repositories charge a fee for deposit ranging from one hundred to several thousand dollars. Some repositories, such as ICPSR, charge for deposit but offer intensive curation, including migrating your data to updated file formats appropriate to your discipline and mediating access to datasets containing confidential information. If a fee-based repository is appropriate for your data, consider writing repository fees into your grant proposal.

Most repositories do not allow (or they charge money for) large deposits, and even private “cold storage” cloud solutions such as Amazon Glacier can quickly become cost prohibitive. If you need assistance finding a place for a terabyte or petabyte-sized dataset, please reach out to us.

Sample UO-Specific DMP Language: All de-identified data and metadata resulting from this project will be archived in Dryad, while project code will be deposited in Zenodo. Pre-prints of papers resulting from this research will be archived in the UO Scholar’s Bank institutional repository with DOI links to their associated data in Dryad. Original paper files will be maintained in locked file cabinets in locked storage facilities for up to 10 years, then placed in long-term archival facilities or shredded. In the event that the PI leaves UO, the UO will work with the PI, per UO policy, to transfer active grants while retaining data as necessary to meet the state of Oregon’s record retention policy. If the data is not part of an active grant being transferred, UO will work with the PI’s new institution to develop an appropriate data use agreement.