The details of your research and the grant you're applying for will inform which repository you'll include in your Data Management and Sharing Plan, if you are planning to share data. The NIH has guidance on selecting an appropriate repository on sharing.nih.gov, but the hierarchy below is customized to Chapman University researchers and includes additional considerations that may be valuable in the DMSP-writing process. Librarians can help you navigate this process; send us an email at LRDS@chapman.edu.
- Firstly, check if the FOA specifies a data repository where resulting data must go. If it directs you to deposit in data in a specific place, then move ahead with that in mind.
- The NIH ICO you're working with may run or directly support a repository and mandate that appropriate data from projected funded by that ICO be deposited there. For example, a project funded by NIDDK may be expected to deposit in the NIDDK Central repository. A list of repositories supported by NIH ICOs can be found on sharing.nih.gov. The National Library of Medicine also maintains a tool for identifying appropriate NIH-supported repositories.
- The location where other researchers in your particular field deposit is the next best place. The goal is to put the data where it’s most likely to be found by people who will use it. Specialized repositories that take data from a subfield or of a particular data type are usually referred to as disciplinary repositories. Tools like the Registry of Research Data Repositories at re3data.org may help you discover a fitting place for your data. Please contact your liaison librarian and/or Leatherby Libraries Research Data Services for assistance finding a disciplinary repository.
- If you have a journal in mind for publishing the results of the study, you may want to check that journal's data sharing policy and if they have a preferred deposit location. The Journal Data Policy Finder tool below may be useful for finding the sharing policies of publishes or journals in your field.
- If there is no NIH ICO specified or disciplinary repository appropriate for your data, the NIH directs you to deposit in an institutional repository or in a generalist repository from the NIH Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative. The Chapman University institutional data repository, Chapman Figshare, is suitable for some data types but may be unsuitable for sensitive data that cannot be shared publicly. GREI also provides a flowchart for choosing a generalist repository based on your needs.
If you are unsure what generalist repository would be a good fit for your data, please contact Leatherby Libraries Research Data Services for assistance at LRDS@chapman.edu.
- The NIH sharing policy states that small datasets under 2 GB can be uploaded as supplementary material when a paper is published in PubMed Central. This option does not allow for the level of control over your shared data you have when depositing in a data repository and does not result in a DOI.
- Self-hosting and ad-hoc sharing, such as through an Electronic Lab Notebook, does not satisfy NIH guidance to use repositories that meet the Desirable Characteristics specified by NIH or the NSTC.
