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Data Management

A guide to assist researchers in data management

Data Sharing and Preservation

Sharing research data facilitates research reproducibility and the reuse of data. Depositing your data in a data repository is a best practice for data sharing because it provides longterm preservation and a stable point of access for your data. Moreover, funders and publishers are increasingly requiring that data be shared publicly and encouraging the adoption of the FAIR Principles for making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. 

Federal Funding Agency Requiremets

Dryad: Northwestern's Data Repository Solution

Dryad Logo

Dryad is a non-profit, community-governed data repository. Northwestern University is an institutional member of Dryad, which means that any researcher affiliated with Northwestern has free-of-charge access to Dryad's data repository and curation services.

 

Getting Started with Dryad

You'll need to create a Dryad account via ORCID and connect it to your Northwestern University account. See Dryad's guide to the submission and publication process for more details on creating an account and depositing data. 

 

Benefits of Depositing Your Data with Dryad

  • Complies with funder and publisher data-sharing expectations.
  • Provides a stable DOI to make your data easily citable and accessible.
  • Subject-matter experts curate your files to ensure data and metadata integrity.
  • Accepts a wide variety of data formats, up to 300GB in size.
  • Data is indexed by Google Dataset Search and other search engines.
  • All fees, including large file costs, will be covered by Northwestern University Libraries and Northwestern IT Research Computing.

View a complete list of features.

Other Data Repository Options

If Dyrad does not meet your needs, use these directories to find another repository for your data: 

Your funder, publisher, or scholarly association may also maintain a list of recommended repositories.