About Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository

The Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository (JHRDR) is an open– access repository for the long-term management and preservation of research data. Through depositing datasets in the  JHRDR, researchers are able to share their research data with the public for future discovery and reuse. The  JHRDR is administered by professional curators, who will work with you to ensure your data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR).  

Important: If your study includes human participants, human genomic data, human biospecimens, or other sensitive information, DO NOT proceed with the data deposit process. JHRDR is an open-access repository, so we do not accept data with legal or ethical restrictions on open-access sharing. Please contact us directly so we can work with your IRB to determine the appropriate next step. If open access is not feasible, we will recommend a different repository. 

The Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository does accept human participants data under the following conditions:  

• All data need to be anonymized (consult with Data Services before sending in data)   
• Consent language clearly tells participants that the data will be shared in an open access repository (see SOM IRB template 5 for example.   
• If you collected data under a waiver of consent, we will not be able to accept your data.   
• Datasets from JH Medical systems may require approval by JHM Data Trust to deposit in JHRDR or other data repositories.  
• These and other JHM clinical or medical studies may require a Change in Research review by JHM IRB to update plans for data repository deposits.  

Please review the following JHU policies on data sharing with human participants:  

• General JHU IRB Expectations for Sharing of Individual Level Research Data  
• Data Sharing Tiers for Broad Sharing of Clinically Derived Data  
• Sharing Johns Hopkins Medicine Data 

Contact us to discuss whether your data can be deposited in JHRDR or if you need to deposit in a different repository. Never email us human subject data even if you consider it de-identified. To learn more about de-identification, check out our online guide, Protecting and Removing Human Subject Identifiers.    

Visit the Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository page to start the process. Review our Deposit Policy, Deposit Guide, and Metadata Guide before getting started. Follow the instructions to create an account on the Repository and use the “Add Data” button to create a dataset draft. Once a dataset draft is created and saved, an email notification will be sent to Data Services. One of our Data Management Consultants will reach out to you via email within two business days to arrange for data transfer and discuss the next steps.  

Important: DO NOT proceed with account and dataset creation in JHRDR if one of the following situations applies to you or your dataset:  

• Your study includes human participants (including genomic data and biospecimens) or other sensitive information.  
• Your dataset is larger than 2TB  
• You do not have a JHED, but your dataset is JHU-related (e.g., you previously worked at JHU, or one of the co-authors is affiliated with JHU).  
• You are affiliated only with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.  

Contact us first and we will evaluate your situation to determine the next step. We will get back to you within two business days. 

The Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository offers free data archiving (up to 2TB per dataset) for JHU researchers. Our Data Management Consultants offer personalized curation services that many public data archives do not, helping to prepare your data for long-term preservation and use. Our curators also manage access to archived data, store backup copies, and run quality checks on archived data for a minimum of five years.  

The Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository accepts data in any format and from any discipline, making the Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository a great option for fields that do not have a discipline-specific repository. Some fields of research have developed repositories and databases specialized for their data types and topics. It is often preferable to deposit to specialized repositories when appropriate, for better discovery by those in your field. Certain funders and grants may specify particular repositories. Our consultants can help you locate appropriate specialized repositories if available and assist in the deposit processes.  

All datasets in the Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository have a persistent identifier (DOI) and a suggested citation, ensuring your data is findable, accessible, reusable and citable.  

We recommend depositing the materials behind any findings, summary tables, and visualizations in your publication or research project. These materials, collectively called “data,” can include cleaned or processed data files used for analysis; code used to process or analyze your data; simulations; survey responses; interview transcripts; researcher observations; geospatial vector files; information computationally derived from public sources, and more. In short, data are all the files and scripts that would help a researcher reuse your data or reproduce the findings of your publication.   

All datasets in the Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository have a persistent identifier (DOI) and a suggested citation, ensuring your data is findable, accessible, reusable and citable.  

Important: If your study includes human participants, human genomic data, human biospecimens, or other sensitive information, DO NOT proceed with the data deposit process. JHRDR is an open-access repository, so we do not accept data with legal or ethical restrictions on open-access sharing. Please contact us directly so we can work with your IRB to determine the appropriate next step. If open access is not feasible, we will recommend a different repository. 

Yes, it is free in most cases. If you have more than 2 TB of uncompressed data, contact us to confirm that we can accommodate your needs before starting to create a dataset draft. We will evaluation your dataset and determine if a charge is necessary.   

Yes, we do! We offer options to mint one DOI, a bulk of DOIs (up to 10), and a dedicated DOI account for researchers with a fee. Please visit our DOI services page to view more details.

No, Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository is not intended as storage for active research data. Its purpose is to provide open access to others interested in referencing and using research your data, and long-term preservation. You can contact Research IT, if you are looking for a place to store and share research data with your lab members and/or collaborators.  

In general, the whole process will take about one or two business weeks. The length of our archiving process depends on the quality of your data/code organization and documentation, and how quickly you can provide those to us for our curation.  

For the Repository application to mint you a DOI,  you need to fill out metadata fields in our Repository, which provides high-level information about your research. In addition, we require the submission of a README-style text file where you will provide more specific information about your files. We will provide a README template if you do not already have one.  

The more complete the description of your datasets are, the more likely that someone will be able to find, understand, trust, and reuse your data/code. If you want to learn more about how to document your research, check out our series of online modules here.  

We currently don’t offer the option to embargo your data. However, your data collection is always private until you give us the approval to publish it online. If your manuscript is still under review and you want to hold onto publishing your data until the manuscript is accepted, we can offer you a private URL that you can share with your reviewer(s), even the data collection has not been published yet.   

Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository currently supports only public, open access, not requiring registration from those who access and download data. Open access meets funder and publisher preferences. If your data requires restricted access, please contact us for help finding a data repository that best meets your needs.  

You can use the following language but adopt it according to your situation: “Data and documentation will be made available through the open access Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository. The Repository, managed by Johns Hopkins Data Services, uses an established repository platform (Dataverse) and has a robust preservation plan to ensure long-term access.  To facilitate data discovery and findability, all datasets are given standard data citations, persistent identifiers (DOIs) via DataCite,  and all study-level metadata is discoverable through standard web search. Deposited will be archived for a minimum of 5 years, with the possibility of renewal.”

No, the Johns Hopkins Research Data Repository welcomes data associated with a publication and datasets that are archived and shared on their own. 

Email us at dataservices@jhu.edu and one of our consultants will get back to you within two business day.