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This guidance will define This article defines a trustworthy repository for research data and discuss data repository, identifies strategies for identifying trustworthy repositories.

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finding a trustworthy repository, and links to additional resources.

What is a Trustworthy Repository?

A trustworthy data repository is “…one whose mission is to provide reliable, long-term access to managed digital resources [research data and materials] to its designated community, now and in the future” (Beagrie et al, 2002). This is an established repository with a track-record of reliable, robust, and quality data preservation and sharing workflows and systems. TRUST (Lin et al, 2020), NIH (2023), and USGS (2023) have a list of desirable characteristics for data repositories including features such as:

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Funders and publishers prefer researchers to deposit their research data in a trustworthy repository to ensure long-term access in compliance with the FAIR data principles [link to guidance on FAIR]. If you are complying with a data sharing policy, consult the policy language for the required characteristics of a data repository to ensure you select an appropriate repository for your data.

Strategies for Finding Trustworthy Repositories

Research communities vary in terms of the number of established repositories. You may already be familiar with a few of your community’s domain-specific repositories. If your community does not have domain repositories, there are generalist repositories that serve several disciplines and data types and are good options for data sharing.

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Consult funder or publisher for a list of recommended data repositories.
Review list of repositories with the CoreTrusSeal certification, a rigorous audit to ensure trustworthiness
Search Registry of Research Repositories
Consider local options at your institution

At UNC, UNC Dataverse and Qualitative Data Repository are established data repository options holding the CoreTrustSeal certification.

UNC Dataverse is a trusted, generalist repository managed by the Research Data Management Core that preserves and shares research data in any format
The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) at Syracuse University is a trusted repository for qualitative data. UNC has an institutional membership to QDR

As you plan for data sharing, there are many data repositories out there. Not all repositories are created equal. It is important to look for trustworthy and established repositories that will sustain access and use of your data now and into the future.

Resources

CoreTrustSeal: https://amt.coretrustseal.org/certificates

Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) at Syracuse University:https://qdr.syr.edu/

Registry of Research Data Repositories: http://www.re3data.org

UNC Dataverse: https://dataverse.unc.edu/

References

Beagrie, N., Bellinger, M., Dale, R., Doerr, M., Hedstrom, M., Jones, M. Kenney, A., Lupovici, C., Russell, K., Webb, C., & Woodyard, D. (2002). Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities. Research Libraries Group & Online Computer Library Center, Report. https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/activities/trustedrep/repositories.pdf

Lin, D., Crabtree, J., Dillo, I., Downs, R., Edmunds, R., GIaretta, D., De Giusti, M., L’Hours, H., Hugo, W., Jenkyns, R., Khodiyar, V. Martone, M.E., Mokrane, M., Navale, V., Petters, J., Sierman, B., Sokolova, D.V., Stockhause, M., & Westbrook, J. (2020). The TRUST Principles for digital repositories. Scientific Data, 7(1), 144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0486-7

National Institute of Health (NIH). (2023). “Desirable Characteristics for All Data Repositories.” https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/sharing-scientific-data/selecting-a-data-repository#desirable-characteristics-for-all-data-repositories

USGS. (2023). “USGS Trusted Digital Repositories (TDR).” https://www.usgs.gov/office-of-science-quality-and-integrity/usgs-trusted-digital-repositories-tdr

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