Publishing data in a repository increases your data's findability, accessibility, and reusability. If you are looking to publish data to a repository, UCSF provides guidance and services so you can chose and publish your data to the best suited repository.

Services

1. Sharing De-Identified Data in Repositories: UCSF provides guidance, directions and resources for sharing de-identified data in repositories. Sharing in a controlled access repository is recommended.
2. Sharing non-human subjects data in repositories: Non-human subjects data should be shared to discipline-specific, community-recognized repositories where possible.
   1. Repositories by discipline: Visit Data Repository Guidance to view repositories available for your discipline.
   2. Dryad: Where a suitable discipline-specific resource does not exist, data should be submitted to a generalist repository. UCSF Library has partnered with Dryad, a free open source generalist repository. It is an easy way to openly publish data and comply with funder and publisher mandates. Dryad allows you to:

• Upload up to 300GB of research data from cloud storage or lab servers (or your laptop!)
• Submit and download data through a REST APIs
• Find standardized data usage and citation statistics for your data
• Get a DOI and citation for your dataset that can be used by other researchers
• Version or update your data at any time

Please note that Dryad should not be used for PHI or sensitive data.

Directions

1. Determine which research data repository is appropriate.
   1. For de-identified data, follow the directions in Sharing De-Identified Data in Repositories.
   2. For non-human subjects data: 
      1. Find repositories by discipline.
      2. None for your discipline? Use Dryad.
2. Prepare data for sharing
   1. For de-identified data, follow the directions in Sharing De-Identified Data in Repositories.
   2. Gather all necessary data documentation and format your data to meet the standards of your repository, using open file formats whenever possible.
3. Upload your data to your chosen repository
   1. Upload your data to your selected data repository and get your DOI or accession number to include in your grant reports and CV. 

Support

If you have questions about using Dryad or picking an external data repository, contact Ariel Deardorff on the library's Data Science Team.