Sharing Data and Finding the Right Repository
Several funders and publishers require data be made publically accessible. Apart from these requirements researchers may choose to make all or part of their data widely available.
If you are required to share your data as part of funding agreement, please visit the Public Access Mandates Webpage.
Columbia University Guidance on Retention of Research Data states Principal Investigators are responsible for identifying, collecting, managing, and retaining Research Data as custodian for the University.
There are a number of ways to maintain and share your data in order to make it available to the scholarly community and the broader public. Check out the links and resources below to find more information about managing and sharing data, and to find a repository that is right for you and your research.
Below is a list of options for the storage, sharing and transfer of digital research data that is available to Columbia researchers. This table is maintained by the ReaDI Program. For more detail regarding the resources listed in the table below, please download the research data storage options PDF.
Last updated 4/17/2024
Research data storage options as a downloadable PDF of the above table, including descriptions of the services offered.
All systems located at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights or Manhattanville Campus that process, transmit and/or store Sensitive Data must be registered with the CU Information Security Office. All Systems located at CUMC (“CUMC Systems”) must be registered with the CUMC Information Security Office. See Data Security webpage for more information.
See RSAM User Guide for Registering your Device.
Browse through this listing of NIH-supported repositories to learn more about some places to share scientific data. Select the link provided in the “Data Submission Policy” column to find data submission instructions for each repository.
Learn more on how to evaluate and select appropriate data repositories.
Domain-specific repositories are typically limited to data of a certain type or related to a certain discipline.
Generalist repositories accept data regardless of data type, format, content, or disciplinary focus.
We are currently recommending researchers to use Dryad, which is freely available to all CU researchers. You may also want to refer to the CU Data Repository Finder for other repositories that meet the NIH’s suggested requirements.
