Deposit & share data

General-purpose repositories

Canadian general-purpose repositories

If a discipline-specific repository is not available, general-purpose repositories are the next best option. They typically accept a wide range of data types, and are suitable for cross-disciplinary data. Below are some examples:

Concordia University Dataverse (from Borealis)

Why should you use this repository?

• Support from Concordia Library (see below)
• Available for free to all Concordia researchers
• Useful for small to medium sized datasets:
  • files ≤ 5 GB
  • datasets ≤ 10 GB
• Data hosted on Canadian servers
• Embargo options available

Ready to deposit? Consult the following:

• Deposit Checklist
• Deposit Quick Guide
• How to deposit data in Borealis (video)
• Concordia University Dataverse Policy
• Borealis Statement on Sensitive and Confidential Data
• Borealis Sensitive and Confidential Data Deposit Checklist

Concordia Library service offer

What we offer:

• Provide guidance on the deposit process and the preparation of the dataset for deposit
• Create subDataverses
• Assign permissions to different members of a team within a subDataverse
• Review deposited datasets
  • Review all metadata for completeness
  • Review adequacy of file naming convention
  • Review preservation friendliness of file formats
  • Check to see if files can be opened
• Publish deposited datasets
• Provide workshops on preparing and depositing data in Dataverse

What we do not offer:

• Create metadata (README files, data dictionaries, code books, catalogue metadata)
• Review data for scientific quality
• Data cleaning
• File conversions
• Data anonymization or de-identification
• Data deposit

Need help?
Email us at lib-research.data@concordia.ca

Federated Data Research Repository (FRDR)

• Free to all Canadian researchers
• Useful for very large datasets (files greater than 5 GB)
• Long term preservation of data is assured upon data ingestion with the help of the Archivematica preservation software
• Data hosted on Canadian servers

Other general-purpose repositories

• Dryad
  Non-profit repository allowing a total storage space of 50 GB for $120 USD.
• Figshare
  Commercial repository allowing a total storage space of 20 GB for free.
• Open ICPSR
  Accepts social and behavioural science research data. Different levels of curation services (from none to complete) are offered at varying prices.
• OSF
  Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free and open source project management repository that supports researchers across their entire project lifecycle.
• Zenodo
  A multidisciplinary platform hosted by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). Accepts all research outputs from all fields of science.

See also: Generalist repository comparison chart (Zenodo).

Institutional research repositories

Depositing in discipline-specific or general-purpose data repositories is encouraged, as they are generally better suited for data curation and dissemination. However, if there is no suitable discipline-specific repository for your dataset, and you do not wish to deposit in the general-purpose Concordia University Dataverse repository, consider using Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository.