How to find an appropriate research data repository? | PLOS Tech

"The debate on open access to research data is gaining relevance. This February, the federal agencies in the U.S. have been told by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to maximize access to data from publicly funded research. In June, the G8 science ministers published a set of principles for open scientific research data. The ministers declared that, if possible, „publicly funded scientific research data should be open“. And already last year, the European Commission announced a pilot framework in Horizon 2020, the coming EU framework programme for research and innovation, to promote open access to research data. Although scientists agree with the potential benefit of data sharing for the scientific progress, the majority is reserved when it comes to practical implementations. One reason for the reluctance is a lack of reliable 'systems that make it quick and easy to share data' (Tenopir et al. 2011). The current landscape of data repositories is heterogeneous. Some initiatives like the Data Seal of Approval (DSA) and the World Data System (WDS) are working on the standardization of data repositories. And there are already certification and auditing procedures for data repositories. Two examples are the DIN 31644 and the ISO 16363 standards. But these standards are not widely used yet. Research data repositories and their services are mostly characterized by the scientific discipline in which they work. They store a wide variety of file formats under different conditions for access and reuse. In many cases it is difficult for researchers to find an appropriate repository for the storage of their data. To overcome these shortcomings we started re3data.org ..."