## Your Paper Is Accepted, But What About Your Data? You’ve navigated peer review, addressed every comment from Reviewer 2, and your manuscript is finally accepted. But now you face another critical step: sharing your data. More and more funders and journals mandate that the underlying data for a publication must be made publicly available. This requirement leaves many researchers asking the same question: where exactly am I supposed to put it? Choosing the right place to deposit your data can feel overwhelming. The landscape is a mix of institutional, subject-specific, and general-purpose platforms, each with its own rules, costs, and benefits. This guide explains **how to choose a research data repository** that not only satisfies your publisher but also makes your work more discoverable and impactful. Making a smart choice here is crucial for complying with policies, preserving your work for the long term, and getting credit for all your research outputs. ## The Three Main Types of Research Data Repositories Before you can pick a repository, it helps to understand the categories they fall into. Your choice will likely be one of these three. ### 1. Institutional Repositories (IRs) An institutional repository is an archive run by your own university or research institute. It’s designed to collect and preserve the scholarly output of its own community, from papers and theses to datasets. * **Who it’s for:** Researchers affiliated with the host institution. * **Why use it:** It’s often the easiest path to compliance with your university’s own data management policies. Your library or research office can provide direct support, and it keeps your work clearly associated with your institution. * **What to check:** Confirm your IR issues a persistent identifier like a DOI and meets your funder's specific requirements. ### 2. Disciplinary or Subject-Specific Repositories These repositories focus on a specific academic field. Think GenBank for nucleotide sequences or the Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR) for social science research. These are often the gold standard in their respective fields. * **Who it’s for:** Researchers working within that specific discipline, regardless of their institution. * **Why use it:** Depositing your data here puts it right in front of the colleagues most likely to understand and reuse it. The metadata standards are tailored to your field, making your data more discoverable and useful to others. * **What to check:** Many funders and journals strongly recommend or even mandate the use of specific disciplinary repositories. Always check their policies first. ### 3. Generalist Repositories Generalist repositories accept data from any discipline. They are an excellent option when a suitable disciplinary repository doesn’t exist or when your data is highly interdisciplinary. * **Who it’s for:** Any researcher, in any field. * **Why use it:** They are open to everyone, typically free for basic use, and provide all the essential features needed to meet data sharing mandates. * **What to check:** These are your go-to when you have no other requirements. The most popular choices include Zenodo, Figshare, and Dryad. ## How to Choose a Research Data Repository: A Decision Framework With the types defined, follow this step-by-step process to find the perfect home for your data. ### Step 1: Check for Mandates from Funders and Journals Your decision might already be made for you. Many funding agencies and publishers specify exactly where data must be deposited. For example, the NIH points researchers to a list of approved repositories for genomic data. **Action:** Carefully read the "Instructions for Authors" on your target journal's website and review the data management plan requirements from your funder. This is the most important first step. ### Step 2: Prioritize a Disciplinary Repository If no specific repository is mandated, the next best choice is usually one dedicated to your field. This ensures your data is preserved using standards your community recognizes and is easily found by your peers. **Action:** Ask colleagues what they use or consult your librarian. You can also search online registries like **re3data.org** or **FAIRsharing.org**, which catalog repositories from around the world and let you filter by subject area. ### Step 3: Look at Your Institutional Repository If a good disciplinary option isn't available, your university's repository is your next stop. It’s a reliable choice that meets core archival standards and keeps your data management within your own institution's ecosystem. **Action:** Visit your university library's website or speak with a data librarian. They can guide you through the deposit process and explain the features of your local repository. ### Step 4: Select a Generalist Repository If the first three options don't fit, a generalist repository is the answer. These are the workhorses of open data and an excellent choice for most researchers. **Action:** Compare the top generalist options based on the criteria in the next section. For most use cases, any of the major players will meet your needs. ## A Head-to-Head Look at Zenodo vs. Figshare vs. Dryad When you need a generalist repository, these three are the most common choices. Here’s how they stack up. ### Zenodo * **Who runs it:** Developed and operated by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Its long-term funding is secure. * **Cost:** Free. * **Storage Limits:** Up to 50GB per dataset. * **Key Feature:** Seamless integration with GitHub. You can connect a GitHub repository, and each new release is automatically archived in Zenodo and assigned a new versioned DOI. This is perfect for preserving and citing research software and code. * **Best for:** Researchers who need to archive code alongside data, and anyone looking for a free, reliable, and high-capacity option. ### Figshare * **Who runs it:** A commercial product owned by Digital Science. * **Cost:** "Freemium" model. Individuals get up to 20GB of private storage for free. Larger storage options are available through paid "Figshare+" plans or institutional licenses. * **Storage Limits:** Free tier has a 20GB file size limit. Institutional versions can support files up to 5TB. * **Key Feature:** Strong institutional partnerships. Many universities use a branded version of Figshare as their official repository, which can streamline the deposit process for their researchers. It also has a clean interface and supports in-browser previews for many file types. * **Best for:** Researchers whose institution has a Figshare license or those who value a polished user interface. ### Dryad * **Who runs it:** A non-profit membership organization of journals, publishers, and scientific societies. * **Cost:** Charges a one-time Data Publishing Charge (DPC) per submission, currently $120 for datasets up to 50GB. This fee is often covered by journal publication fees or institutional memberships. * **Storage Limits:** The base DPC covers up to 50GB, with additional fees for larger datasets. * **Key Feature:** Curation. Unlike Zenodo and Figshare where deposits are mostly automated, Dryad has a curation team that reviews submissions to ensure metadata is complete and files are usable. This adds a layer of quality control. It's also tightly integrated into many journal submission workflows. * **Best for:** Researchers publishing in a partner journal or who want the assurance of a human-led curation step. ## Final Checklist for Your Chosen Repository No matter which repository you lean toward, make sure it ticks these final boxes. A good repository should always: * **Assign a Digital Object Identifier (DOI):** This is non-negotiable. A DOI is a persistent link that ensures your dataset remains citable forever. * **Have a Clear Preservation Plan:** The repository should be transparent about how it will keep your data safe and accessible for the long term. * **Support Your File Formats:** Make sure the repository can handle the types and sizes of files you need to deposit. * **Align with FAIR Principles:** Your data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Choosing a good repository is the single biggest step toward making your data FAIR. For a deeper dive, check out our guide on [Research Data Management for PhD Students: A Practical FAIR Data Guide](/blog/research-data-management-fair-guide/). By depositing your data in a suitable repository, you're not just fulfilling a requirement; you're contributing to a more open and reproducible scientific future. It ensures your work can be built upon by others, and it allows you to get formal credit for all your research outputs, not just the final paper. And once you have that DOI, make sure you include it in your manuscript's [data availability statement](/blog/how-to-write-a-data-availability-statement-that-gets-you-published/).