Data Management Resources

Repositories are places where researchers can deposit their data for preservation and sharing at the conclusion of a project. Using an established repository as a mode of sharing is encouraged or required by many funders and publishers. In addition, depositing data into a repository increases your associated research citations (Drachen, Ellegaard, Larsen, & Dorch, 2016).

Repository services may include:

• Providing the dataset with a persistent identifier (ex: DOI)
• Data curation, where data is reviewed for ways to increase reuse potential
  • Curation is not a judgement of the content within the dataset. Curation reviews the structure and format of the data (ex: file formats) to ensure the best possible use by other researchers. 
• Embargoing data until it can be publicly available for access (usually up to 1 year) 
• Applying a license to the data to clarify future use
• Guaranteed availability for a certain time frame
• Preservation and storage services, such as duplicate backups and file integrity checks
• Access protection, especially in human subject research
  • Only specialized repositories have the ability to provide access restrictions, such as QDR and ICPSR. Most other repositories make data openly available to support the mission of open data and open scholarship.  

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is an institutional member of the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR), a dedicated archive for storing and sharing qualitative and multi-method data. Our membership supports the curation and preservation of data projects deposited by Penn faculty, students, and research staff. Through this benefit, individual researchers can consult with experts in qualitative data curation, including discussions about disclosure issues, metadata creation, and more. Researchers should start early in consulting with QDR, ideally at the beginning of a project before data collection or during the data management planning stage for any grant submissions. If you are applying for a large or multi-year grant, please consult with QDR before designating them as a repository. There may be additional costs for large-scale or multi-year projects. If you are a researcher working in qualitative methods, please contact Lynda Kellam (LibraryRDDS@pobox.upenn.edu) for more information.

For more information about QDR and qualitative data analysis, check out our Qualitative Data Analysis Tools and Resources guide. There is even a recording of a QDR workshop for in depth information on the repository.  

ScholarlyCommons is the institutional repository for the University of Pennsylvania.  As such, it houses the scholastic output of the Penn community and shares these works with a global audience. For more information, see the ScholarlyCommons Guide or email repository@pobox.upenn.edu. Feel free to use our boilerplate text to describe ScholarlyCommons in your DMP.