Library Guides: Scientific Data: About

How To Use This Guide

Welcome to the Scientific Data Library Guide!

Use this library guide when you are looking (1) for datasets across the sciences and/or (2) to publish your scientific data in a data repository.

Tips for Locating Data

When searching for data, think carefully about what organizations might have collected the data you need. Governments and international organizations often maintain and provide access to the data they collect, while businesses and independent researchers' data are less available to the public. For the later, subscriptions to data archives are sometimes a solution. Scientists who complete projects funded by public grants are increasingly becoming required to publish that data online.

Here are some possible data collectors to consider:

Government/Government-funded Research

Generally free, may be on the internet or in print (e.g. books, almanacs)
Data format varies widely
Collected through research to help aid policy decisions
Also collected through administrative processes as a result of work the government does
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- the National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

International Organizations

May be free or subscription/fee based
Data format varies widely
Collected through research to help aid policy decisions

Data Archives and Repositories

Usually subscription/fee based
Often includes data collected by individual scholar/researchers
Data generally available in formats like SPSS, SAS, Stata or Excel

Don't ignore the scholarly literature (books & articles). Bibliographies and existing research may help you identify what types of data are available, and where to access them.

Before you search for a data source, think about what kind of data you need. Ask yourself the following:

What topics do you need?

Genetic, Psychological, Topography

What unit of analysis do you need?

Length, time, mass, temperature

If applicable, what geographic unit do you need?

National: U.S., country level
State, regional, county/parish, local, cities...
International

What time period/years do you need?

Fixed time: most recent available, past 5 years, historical...
Time series: annual, quarterly, every 10 years...

Not sure the answer to these questions about your research interest? Start by conducting a literature review. Find studies related to your topic and look for the data used by other scholars. What data points did they analyze? Where did they find the data?

Knowing what you need is an important first step. Don't skip it! You need to have a strong idea of the specific data needed to answer your research question before you meet with a librarian.

Consider the following questions when determining if data is trustworthy --

Does the data have a use license?
Is there information describing the data collection and analysis strategies?
Are the data authors/creators identifiable by name and contact information?
If the data includes sensitive information, are proper protocols included in viewing the data (use agreements)?
Is the author/creator/organization, data collection process, data analysis, or data publication tied to a financial, political, or social interest? If so, identify the measures taken to ensure ethical compliance.

Scientific Data Repositories by Discipline

Visit these links to search for datasets by discipline or topic.

Registry of Research Data Repositories (re3data)
Use this catalog to find appropriate repositories.
Data Repository Guidance from Nature
Scientific Data mandates the release of datasets accompanying our Data Descriptors, but we do not ourselves host data. Instead, we ask authors to submit datasets to an appropriate public data repository. Data should be submitted to discipline-specific, community-recognized repositories where possible. Where a suitable discipline-specific resource does not exist, data should be submitted to a generalist repository.

figshare
figshare is a repository where users can make all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner
Dryad
Dryad is an open data publishing platform and a community committed to the open availability and routine re-use of all research data.
Data.gov
The Home of the U.S. Government's Open Data

Genome Sequence Archive
The Genome Sequence Archive (GSA) is a data repository for collecting, archiving, managing and sharing raw sequence data, which is the first repository of the genome sequence data with international journal recognition in China.
Protein Data Bank
Since 1971, the Protein Data Bank archive (PDB) has served as the single repository of information about the 3D structures of proteins, nucleic acids, and complex assemblies.
Crystallography Open Database
Open-access collection of crystal structures of organic, inorganic, metal-organic compounds and minerals, excluding biopolymers.
The SBGrid Data Bank
We support publication of X-ray diffraction, MicroED, LLSM datasets, as well as structural models. All visitors can access our Laboratory and Institutional Collections. All structural biologists are invited to deposit datasets.
OpenNeuro
Neurology data repository supported by Standford University, NSF, and NIH
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—is an international network and data infrastructure funded by the world's governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.
Coordinated through its Secretariat in Copenhagen, the GBIF network of participating countries and organizations, working through the participant nodes, provides data-holding institutions around the world with common standards, best practices and open-source tools enabling them to share information about where and when species have been recorded.
ArrayExpress
The functional genomics data collection (ArrayExpress), stores data from high-throughput functional genomics experiments, and provides data for reuse to the research community. In line with community guidelines, a study typically contains metadata such as detailed sample annotations, protocols, processed data and raw data.

ioChem-BD
ioChem-BD relies in an unique software platform which is builded in a modular way to satisfy all the needs: data creation and curation, publishing, storage, indexing data and search engine services.
PubChem
PubChem is the world's largest collection of freely accessible chemical information. Search chemicals by name, molecular formula, structure, and other identifiers. Find chemical and physical properties, biological activities, safety and toxicity information, patents, literature citations and more.

High-Energy Physics (HEP) Data
Repository for publication-related High-Energy Physics data

EDI Data Portal
The EDI Data Portal contains environmental and ecological data packages contributed by a number of participating organizations. Data providers make every effort to release data in a timely fashion and with attention to accurate, well-designed and well-documented data.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC)
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) for Biogeochemical Dynamics is a NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data center managed by the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project. The ORNL DAAC is operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and is a member of the Remote Sensing and Environmental Informatics Group of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD).
NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC)
NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC). Located at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland, we are one of 12 NASA Science Mission Directorate Data Centers that provide Earth science data, information, and services to research scientists, applications scientists, applications users, and students. We archive and support data sets applicable to several NASA Earth Science Focus Areas including: Atmospheric Composition, Water & Energy Cycles, and Climate Variability. Note that we also archive data sets applicable to Carbon Cycle & Ecosystem, but we describe this science focus area in the context of the three previously mentioned.
National Centers for Environmental Information
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is responsible for preserving, monitoring, assessing, and providing public access to the Nation's treasure of geophysical data and information.
Earth Data (NASA)
The Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program provides full and open access to NASA’s collection of Earth science data for understanding and protecting our home planet. Begin your Earthdata exploration by clicking on any of the discipline icons above.

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