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Research Data Management: Choosing a data repository

Research Data Management (RDM) Library guide

Choosing a data repository

It's important to specify in the Data Management Plan (DMP) where data will be deposited at the end of the project for long-term preservation. Some funders will also require you to justify your choice in the DMP. These are some of the issues to consider:

  • Are there any charges associated with depositing data?
  • Are there limits to the size of data deposits?
  • How long does the repository commit to preserving data for?
  • Will a persistent identifier be produced for the dataset?
  • Does your funder or journal specify or recommend which repository to use?
  • Are there any subject or discipline specific repositories available?

Disciplinary repositories

Preferably data will be deposited in a repository recognised and geared towards specific disciplines or data types. This improves its visibility to those more likely to make use of the data for future research.

Examples How to identify an appropriate repository

Funder requirements

Some funders specify where data they've funded should be deposited. For example, NERC's data policy specifies that funded data should be deposited in a NERC data centre. View funder requirements for further details.

Journal requirements

Some publishers have produced guidance to help authors choose appropriate repositories for their data. For example, Springer Nature, PLOS, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley. Individual journals may have their own requirements, so it's important to find the author guidelines for each title.

General repositories

There are a number of general purpose repositories to choose from. For example:

BORDaR, BU's research data repository

Where disciplinary specific repositories don't exist, or if your funder doesn't specify where data should be deposited, data can be deposited in BORDaR, BU's research data repository. Even if data is deposited elsewhere, a record should be created in BORDaR linking to the data.

How to deposit data in BORDaR.