Where do I share my data?

Athough some initiatives and funding opportunities will have individual requirements, in general, NIH does not endorse or require sharing data in any particular repository. Overall, NIH encourages researchers to select the repository that is most appropriate for their data type and discipline. 

Investigators have multiple options and resouces to identify data repositories best suited for their scientific data:

• Supplemental Information to the NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing: Selecting a Repository for Data Resulting from NIH-Supported Research: This is the official guidance document to start with when considering what repository to use. It outlines the priorities of what to consider when chosing a repository, as well as broad issues of repository characteristics.

• Nature's Data Repository Guidance

• The Registry of Research Data Repositories
   
• LSUHSC-NO institutional repository - coming soon

• NIH list of discipline or data-type specific repositories: If a funding mechanism or Institute doesn't specify a specific repository to use, next priority should go to a discipline-specific or data-type-specific respository such as these. A searchable database of these repositories is found here.

• NIH list of generalist data repositories: Option 2.B. of the guidance on selecting a repository offers these data repositories as established options for data sharing when no discipline-specific repository will fit the study.
   
• Pubmed for data: Adding small datasets in Pubmed Central: This link provides directions for sharing supplementary files with a Pubmed Central deposit. A moderate amount of data in common formats (image collections, spreadsheets, text) may be added to articles in Pubmed Central as a supplementary material. The PMC file with the data as supplementary material is an appropriate repository for the new data sharing policy.

When do I need to share my data?

You will need to share your data when you publish your work or before your performance period ends, whichever comes first.

In general, you should make your data accessible as soon as possible. You can also use relevant requirements and expectations such as data repository policies, award record retention requirements, or journal policies, to decide when to share your data sets.

How do I prepare my data for sharing?

The policy does not state specific requirements for how you share your data. When you share your data, you should address the NIH's goal of making data as accessible as possible. The NIH expects all shareable data to be made available, whether it is associated with a publication or not. 

All data used or generated as part of a grant must be managed, but not all data should be shared. You should not share data if doing so would violate privacy protections or applicable laws. 

You may share data related to human subjects, but your plan should address how data sharing will be communicated in the informed consent process (e.g., consent forms, waivers of consent). For additional guidance on consent, see item 8 in the NIH FAQ.

Before submitting your data to your chosen repository, you will need to:

• Bundle your data together in logical "chunks" for citation and reuse. Appropriate bundling makes it easy to assign a persistent identifier(s) (e.g., DOI) to the dataset. NIH strongly encourages the use of persistent identifiers for datasets. These identifiers, usually assigned by data repositories, make it easier for others to cite your data and for the NIH to track compliance.
   
• De-identify your data, if appropriate.
   
• Convert your data to an open, machine-readable file format such as .csv when possible.
   
• Use data and metadata standards appropriate to your field (if any). Refer to fairsharing.org for a searchable database of standards.
   
• Document the dataset thoroughly in a separate readme.txt file, and/or create metadata according to the format required by your chosen repository or discipline

Refer to Data Management Best Practices compiled by the NIH and by University of Arizona for help in fleshing out these steps.