The University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries created this website to provide a list of data sources and repositories available as a starting point for students and early career researchers.
Questions Before Depositing Your Data
When choosing a repository for your data, there are a few questions you want to keep in mind.
How large are your data files? Certain repositories can only accommodate projects up to a certain size.
Are your data files in an open format (i.e. .csv instead of .xsls, .pdf instead of .docx)? File formats evolve over time. While some formats are free to use, others, such as Microsoft Word or Excel require accounts or subscriptions. Distributing your data in open formats ensures that more people will be able to access your research.
What information do you need to provide for others so your data is reuseable? Data repositories will ask for some form of documentation, such as README.txt files, which detail information and processes that enable researchers to replicate and reuse data.
If you are working with sensitive data, has your data been de-identified enough to allow for sharing, or does your data need restricted access? Repositories will have different capabilities in terms of data sharing. Repositories such as the social science repository ICPSR, offer different options regarding data confidentiality and restricted use.
Does your data need to be embargoed (delaying publication until a specified time) or can it be released immediately to the public?
How would you like to license your data? While datasets cannot be copyrighted, they can be licensed, so it's important to know how you would like your data to be reused. While CC-0 allows data to be reused in the most open fashion, some researchers prefer to use CC-BY, which requires attribution to the creator.
re3data.org is a tool for helping people identify and locate online repositories of research data. Users and bibliographers create and curate records that describe data repositories that users can search. re3data.org is maintained by an international group of data managers and librarians, and mereged with Databib in 2015.
The NNLM Resources for Data-Driven Discovery database serves as a resource for librarians, library students, information professionals, and interested individuals to learn about and discuss: library roles in data science; fundamentals of domain sciences; emerging trends in supporting biomedical research.
This checklist, produced by the DCC (Digital Curation Centre) is concerned with external third-party repositories that offer a managed service to the research community. It aims to assist research support staff whose task is to help researchers make informed choices about where to deposit data.
Select Data Repository Options for UNLV Researchers
Upload files up to 5GB free on the figshare server, have unlimited public space to comply with funder and institutional mandates, and receive a DOI for your data.
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) stores, curates, and provides access to scientific data so others can reuse the data and validate research findings.
The National Supercomputing Center for Energy and the Environment can store large or small datasets securely during the data collection, analysis, and/or archive phases of your research project. At the direction of the researcher, all or a portion of the data may be publicly shared.
Store data, code, and other materials in OSF Storage, or connect your Dropbox or other third-party account. Every file gets a unique, persistent URL for citing and sharing.
The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) is a dedicated archive for storing and sharing digital data (and accompanying documentation) generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences and related disciplines.
Research and data sharing platform developed by CERN for research outputs from all science disciplines. Links up your research both to ORCID and GitHub.
