Dryad Data Repository: Overview

Dryad is a nonprofit data repository offering researchers a secure location for research data storage. UW is now a Dryad member and UW researchers can deposit their data in Dryad at no additional cost to them -- deposit costs are covered by the Libraries' membership fee. This is especially important for researchers with data sets that do not fit in any of the federal or subject repositories.

Dryad makes it easy for researchers to upload and share their data. 

1. Login with your ORCID ID

• The first time you use Dryad you need to login with your ORCID ID. Don't have one? You can create one straight from the Dryad login page (see this guide for more information).
• Because UW is a Dryad member, you will authenticate with ORCID just once to verify your identify.
• After the first login you will be prompted for your UW credentials. Once logged in, you will see the UW logo and can start submitting your data.

2. Describe your Data

• You will be asked to enter metadata. Dryad provides tips for complete and comprehensive metadata. 
• Refer to Dryad's submission guidelines for assistance.

3. Data Types
Dryad accepts many different types of data:

• If submitting human subjects data, makes sure your data is anonymized and follows both legal and ethical guidelines. 
• All data deposited with Dryad must be complete, and open to the public. 
• All data must be compatible with the Creative Commons Zero license. Find out more about Creative Commons licenses here.

4. Data Curation

Dryad curates (reviews) and then publishes your data. Select the Private for Peer Review check box if you want to suspend data publication until after the peer review process is complete. In all cases, the Dryad folks ensure your data is curated. If they have questions, they will be in touch.

5. Data Publication

Dryad notifies you once your data is published and provides you with a permanent DOI (digital object identifier) you can use to cite your data. You can update and re-version your data set at any time. 

More questions? See Dryad's Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks to NMSU for letting us borrow from their helpful Dryad libguide.

• Complies with funders' data access and sharing mandates (for example, NIH's new DMSP)
• Partners with major journal publishers, making manuscript submission easy
• Provides metrics to track how individual data is viewed, shared, cited, and downloaded
• Provides option to upload code, scripts, and software that can be automatically sent to Zenodo
• Curates data submitted for data and metadata integrity
• Preserves your data in a Core Trust Seal-Certified repository

More information: 

• Dryad submission process
• Dryad Terms of Service
• Data Publishing Ethics, from Dryad