What should you consider when selecting an archive?
- We encourage you to use a discipline-specific archive when possible. A discipline-specific archive will make your data more visible to other researchers in the field.
- When there is no suitable discipline-specific archive, we recommend using a general archive.
- The archive should facilitate good retrieval, follow recommended metadata standards, use persistent identifiers and offer curation. Read more about this on our page about the FAIR principles.
- Some archives offer curation which means that metadata is assessed and quality checked by specialists in a relevant discipline. The basic curation process involves a dialogue with the researcher around how to enhance metadata quality before the dataset is archived.
- If you want to read more about choosing an archive, we recommend OpenAIRE's guide.
Discipline-specific archives
- To find a discipline-specific archive, it may be best to talk to colleagues at your department and at UB, as well as see what is used by colleagues internationally. Alternatively, you can use one of the following search tools:
- re3data.org – an overview of data archives.
- FAIRsharing Databases – an overview of databases and data archives.
General archives
- DataverseNO – national archive for general research data from all disciplines. UiO has its own collection. Data is curated by the UiO Library. There are certain limitations on the size of the files that can be deposited (see deposit guide).
- Sikt/NSD – a national archive managed by Sikt (the Knowledge Sector's service provider). The focus is on preserving data from social science and humanities research, as well as some from medical and health research. NSD curates archived data.
- Zenodo – EU research data archive. Here you can archive data and other documents from all subject areas. Zenodo does not curate archived data.
- Open Science Framework (OSF) – an international platform for open research. Here you can deposit data from all research areas. OSF does not curate archived data.
Any questions?
Send an email to: research-data@uio.no