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Reproducible Data Management

Information and resources for reproducible data management for the UCSF research community

Data Services Librarian

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Ariel Deardorff
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Subjects: Data Management

How to select a research data repository

To select a data repository for your research you should consider:

  1. Is there a specific repository named in your funding announcement? If so, use that one
  2. Is there a data repository specific to your discipline? If so, use that one
    • See the list of repositories by discipline below
  3. Is there a generalist data repository you can use?

Note that if you are working with de-identified human subjects data UCSF recommends that you you select a controlled access repository (see examples below)

Remember that you can always reach out to Data Services Librarian Ariel Deardorff for help locating a repository that is right for your data.

Institutional Approvals for Human Subjects Data Sharing

UCSF requires institutional approvals to share your de-identified human subjects data (note that this step is not required for non-human data).

  1. If you are sharing in a controlled access repository (recommended) work with UCSF Industry Contracts to evaluate and sign the repository's data sharing agreement.
  2. If you wish to share your data in an open repository or a controlled access repository not listed on the above list, email datasharing@ucsf.edu with a short description of your data and the name of your chosen repository and the EIA Steering Committee will review and approve.

Disciplinary Repositories

Dryad - UCSF's Open Data Repository

If there isn't a repository for your community or data type another option is to deposit your data into a generalist repository. UCSF is a member of the Dryad data repository, which is an excellent choice for data that can be made publicly available without restrictions. As a member institution, UCSF researchers can deposit their data in Dryad for free. Note that Dryad is not recommended for human subjects data, for those projects we recommend controlled access repositories (see below).

Controlled Access Biomedical Data Repositories

The following research data repositories allow users to control access to their data and are recommended for de-identified human subjects research. Note that most of these repositories will require a signed data use agreement. UCSF researchers should work with UCSF Industry Contracts to evaluate and sign these agreements.

Controlled Access Social Science Data Repositories

The following research data repositories allow users to control access to their data and are recommended for de-identified human subjects research. Note that most of these repositories will require a signed data use agreement. UCSF researchers should work with UCSF Industry Contracts to evaluate and sign these agreements.