NIH encourages the use of established repositories. Depositing data in a quality repository generally improves the FAIRness of data - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. NIH Institutes and Centers may designate specific data repositories for use to preserve and share data.
Primary consideration should be given to data repositories that are discipline or data-type specific to support effective data discovery and reuse.
If no appropriate discipline or data-type specific repository is available, researchers should consider a variety of other potentially suitable data sharing options such as inclusion of small datasets (up to 2 GB) as supplementary materials submitted to PubMed Central, deposit in generalist repositories or institutional repositories or submission of large datasets to cloud-based repositories for data access, preservation and sharing.
Repository Types:
- Open: distributed online and free of cost or other access barriers
- Subject-specific: limited to data of a specific type or discipline
- Generalist: not restricted to a specific data type, format, content, or disciplinary focus
- Institutional: associated with and restricted to hosting data from a specific university or other research institution
For further assistance:
If you would like assistance creating your data management plan or did not find the agency information you needed here, please contact us at dataplan@listserv.unc.edu.