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Frequently Asked Questions

What types of data does Dryad accept?

Dryad accepts all research data. However, this service is intended for complete, re-usable, open research datasets.

Most types of files can be submitted (e.g., text, spreadsheets, video, photographs, code) including compressed archives of multiple files. View additional guidance on preservation-friendly file types.

What are the size limits?

There is a limit of 300GB per data publication uploaded through the web interface. We can accept larger submissions, but the submitter needs to contact us for assistance.

How much does it cost?

Dryad supports our nonprofit mission by collecting a Data Publishing Charge (DPC) of $120US upon data publication, unless there is a sponsor or fee waiver in place. Additional charges may apply to submissions in excess of 50GB. See fee details.

There is no cost to access Dryad's contents.

Does the data have to be associated with a publication?

No. We encourage and accept quality research data to be published and preserved, regardless of whether they are associated with a journal article, book chapter, or other publication.

How should I prepare my data before submitting?

First, be sure that your data is appropriate for sharing openly in the public domain. Check for any issues related to human subjects privacy, endangered species, or copyright/ownership.

Providing well-documented data in a community-accepted format encourages others to reuse and cite your work. Please consider factors such as file format, naming scheme and organization, as laid out in our best practices for creating reusable data publications.

When should I submit my data?

Data may be submitted and published at any time. However, if your data are associated with a journal article, there may be special considerations:

What happens after I submit my data?

Dryad is a curated repository. We perform basic checks on each submission (can the files be opened? are they free of copyright restrictions? do they appear to be free of sensitive data?). If our curators have questions or suggestions about your submission, they will contact you directly. Otherwise you will be notified when your dataset is approved.

If your data submission is "private for peer review," it will not be processed by our curators until the associated manuscript is accepted.

Upon curator approval, the Dryad DOI is officially registered and, if applicable, the Data Publishing Charge (DPC) and any overage fees are invoiced.

After data publication, if you have edits, additional files, or subsequent related work we recommend versioning your data by using the "update" link. All versions of a dataset will be accessible, but the dataset DOI will always resolve to the newest version.

How are the datasets discoverable?

All datasets will be indexed by the Thomson-Reuters Data Citation Index, Scopus, and Google Dataset Search. Each dataset is given a unique Digital Object Identifier or DOI. Entering the DOI URL in any browser will take the user to the dataset's landing page. Dryad also provides a faceted search and browse capability for direct discovery.

Dryad has implemented the Make Data Count (https://makedatacount.org) project recommendations. This means that that views and downloads on each dataset landing page are standardized against the COUNTER Code of Practice for Research Data. Within this framework, Dryad also exposes all related citations to a dataset on the landing page. These are updated each time a new citation from an article or other source has been published.

Ways you can ensure your data publication has the broadest reach:

How are the datasets preserved?

Data deposited are permanently archived and available through the California Digital Library's Merritt Repository. For a full description of the services provided by Merritt, see this document: UC3, Merritt, and Long-term preservation.

Preservation policy details include:

Will the date of publication for my data submission match the publication date of my journal article?

No. The publication date for Dryad data submissions will be assigned upon final approval by our Curators for public posting. Because it’s essential to maintain accuracy, the publication date of datasets cannot be altered.

Can I delete my data?

Data deposited in Dryad is intended to remain permanently archived and available. Removal of a deposited dataset is considered an exceptional action which should be requested and fully justified by the original contributor (e.g., if there are concerns over privacy or data ownership). To request the withdrawal of data from Dryad, contact help@datadryad.org.

How can I best construct my search terms when exploring data at Dryad?

When searching in the Dryad user interface, the normal behavior is to treat each search term as being combined by AND. A search for cat dog will return only datasets that contain both cat and dog.

Search terms may have a wildcard * appended. A search for cat* will return datasets that contain cat, catch, catsup, etc.

Search terms may be negated with a minus sign. A search for cat -dog will return datasets that contain cat, but exclude any datasets that also contain dog.

Phrases may be searched by using quotes. A search for "dog my cats" will only return datasets that contain this specific phrase, and not datasets that contain the individual terms.

Proximity searches may be performed. To find datasets containing dog within four words of cat, search for "dog cat"~4

Searches may also be further constrained by the filters displayed on the left side of the search results screen.