This page provides a brief overview of some of the major generalist repositories (click name to go to specific repository) and highlights certain features (or lack thereof) that may be useful in deciding which repository to use:
Some other generalist repositories are listed in brief at the bottom of this guide. Researchers may also be interested in the comparison chart from the Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI, which does not include all of these repositories but which goes in much more depth) or their flowchart. Harvard has a trimmed-down version of the comparison chart and covers more of the generalist repositories. Listings do not represent endorsements.
If you have questions about understanding a certain repository's services or comparing several, please reach out to Bryan Gee (who has worked for one and published data in several others).
You may have heard of some other generalist repositories or seen other researchers use them. We are not necessarily discouraging you from using these if you have experience with them, but there are some limitations or shortcomings to consider for each of them:
The following are some examples of common use cases / researcher needs that point to a recommended repository or set of repositories. Harvard Dataverse is not listed here because any use case for which it is a good solution should use the Texas Data Repository.
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