GREI Flowchart for Data Sharing Decisions
One of the Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI) objectives is to provide tools to researchers and those providing research support services to help navigate the generalist repository space for various use cases. Several GREI repositories have received user requests for a visual guide to help decide which repository is best to share research outputs. This request was reiterated during community feedback calls on the Generalist Repository Comparison Chart, a previously published GREI tool that provides a detailed table comparing the GREI repositories. In response, we have developed a flowchart that guides users through a series of considerations for selecting the right repository for sharing their data by offering a visual guide that streamlines the decision-making process, making it more efficient and user-friendly.
The Generalist Repository Selection Flowchart highlights each GREI repository’s shared services, features, and unique offerings. We designed this tool to be adaptable and to provide clear guidance in self-service or consultation-based situations, balancing ease of use with sufficient information to choose the most suitable repository for a data package.
Using the Generalist Repository Selection Flowchart
The flowchart highlights the importance of exploring institutional and domain-specific options first, especially since the GREI repositories sometimes function as institutional data repositories. Additionally, there is a convenient table with links to each GREI repository’s user guide and support page for more details, and we include a link to the Generalist Repository Comparison Chart for easy reference.
We designed the initial version of this flowchart with researchers and librarians in mind, acknowledging their collaborative efforts in depositing research data and recognizing the need for additional guidance on choosing an appropriate data repository. We focused on simplifying the flowchart and including decisions directly affecting researchers, such as cost, controlled access, storage limits, licensing choices, and best practices. We also emphasized the importance of anonymizing human subjects’ data, as all GREI repositories mandate this for service utilization.
Future Plans
Drawing on our experience developing the Flowchart and considering the feedback we’ve gathered from the research community, we have begun working on updates to the Generalist Repository Comparison Chart. The revised Comparison Chart will employ uniform concept definitions, inform and instruct while avoiding text denseness, and prominently address many of the key questions facing all interested parties, principally questions around the curation of datasets, storage limits, preservation lifespan, and how sensitive data are handled. Once the updated Comparison Chart is published, we will bring the new information gathered during that process back to the Flowchart for further iteration to ensure that the Flowchart provides thorough, current, and accurate repository selection guidance.
About GREI
The Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI) is a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative which has brought seven generalist repositories together into a collaborative working group focused on establishing “a common set of cohesive and consistent capabilities, services, metrics, and social infrastructure” to enhance NIH data sharing and reuse and increasing awareness and adoption of the FAIR principles.
Engage with the GREI Community
Please join the GREI Google Group to receive updates on GREI activities and events, as well as the latest posts on the GREI blog. All GREI resources including recordings and slides from past events and guides are publicly available in the GREI Community on Zenodo. Check out the GREI Training & Outreach Calendar for information on upcoming training events.
Authors
- Sonia Barbosa, Dataverse, 0000–0002–5477–3522
- Matt Carson, Northwestern University, on behalf of Zenodo, 0000–0003–4105–9220
- Lisa Curtin, Figshare, 0000–0003–1137–7789
- Sara Gonzales, Northwestern University, on behalf of Zenodo, 0000–0002–1193–2298
- Jess Herzog, Dryad, 0000–0002–7604–8911
- Traci Snowden, Mendeley Data, Elsevier, 0009–0001–3311–7198
- Sarah Sweet, Vivli, 0009–0003–3685–8105
