The time for Love Data Week 2026 has come, with this year’s theme, “Where’s the Data?”, encouraging us to consider the journey that data undertakes from creation to application.
Previously, we discussed how to implement good data management practices in your research. So, what next? Sharing your data and making it findable and discoverable to others is a great way to promote your research and increase reproducibility of your work, as well as allowing other researchers to build upon your work. The best way to share data is through a data repository, as it allows for wider accessibility, reproducibility, and discoverability, as well as long-term preservation of your data.
Choosing a repository for your data can feel like a daunting task. Here are some things to consider when making your selection:
- Review your funding documents to see whether you are required to use a specific repository.
- If a specific repository is not required, check for domain-specific repositories that would be well suited for your research data.
- For UI-affiliated researchers, the Iowa Research Online (IRO) repository is a great option, especially when a discipline-specific repository isn’t an option.
No matter what repository you use for your data, you should still maintain thorough documentation and metadata to ensure that others can easily access and understand your data. Also, be sure to consider licenses and copyright for your data to communicate to other researchers how they are allowed to use your data.
To learn more about how Research Data Services can help you at any stage of your data journey, please visit our website or contact us.