A generalist repository collects many different kinds of data without focusing on a particular topic or data type. Keep in mind that you should always look for a discipline specific repository for your data first, per NIH guidelines - but if you're working in a domain that doesn't have a dedicated repository, or if you're submitting multiple types of data, a generalist repository can be a great option.
The NIH recommends nine generalist repositories for biomedical data; you can compare their costs and storage limits below to determine which might be best for your project. You can also read about other generalist repositories commonly used by MSK researchers, and how to choose between the many generalist options out there.
| Repository Name | Storage Space | Costs | Notes |
| Dataverse | "All researchers from any discipline, both inside and out of the Harvard University community, can deposit files of up to 2.5GB, and store up to 1TB of data on the Harvard Dataverse Repository." | None | MSK does not partner with Dataverse for an institutional repository, but any researcher can make a deposit in the Harvard University Dataverse, which is open to the public. |
| Dryad | "Individual files should not exceed 10GB. This ensures files are easily accessed and downloaded by Dryad users. There is a limit of 300GB per data publication uploaded through the web interface" | No costs up to 10 GB. After that, fees range from $259-$4,347 depending on storage needs. For partner institutions (MSK is not one) costs start at a $150 DPC, and $30 per GB. | |
| Figshare | "All figshare.com accounts are provided with 20GB of private storage and are able to upload individual files up to 20GB. For institutional users, your private space limit is dependent on your institution, please contact your institutional admins if you require more space. Figshare for institutions also offers larger file size uploads up to 5TB." | All accounts get 20GB of storage for free. Figshare+ users can increase their storage for $875 per 250GB. | |
| IEEE Dataport | "IEEE DataPort offers three options for uploading your dataset. All options support up to 10 TB Cloud storage per dataset for Institutional Subscribers and 2TB Cloud storage per dataset for individual users as well as meta data, cloud storage integration, an automatically generated DOI, analysis submissions, and comments." See IEEE for more. | Individual subscriptions are $40/month | |
| Mendeley Data | "An individual account can upload files of any format, up to a maximum of 10GB per dataset..If your Institution subscribes to Digital Commons Data you will have the ability to create datasets up to a maximum size of 100GB. The maximum size will depend on the storage agreement that your institution has. To benefit from the additional size limit as an institutional user, you will need to connect your Mendeley account with your institutional email address. You can upload files of any format including individual files, zipped files and folders" | None | |
| Open Science Framework | "Individual files must be 5GB or less. OSF storage allows 5GB of storage for private projects, and 50GB for public ones. Additional storage can be accessed through OSF add-ons." | None | |
| Synapse | Synapse offers three plans for storage: a free option for under 100GB, a paid "self-managed" plan for under 500 GB, and a paid "customized" plan with unlimited storage. See Synapse for more. | Paid "self-managed" plans range from $15,000-$30,000. Pricing for customized plans shared upon request. | |
| Vivli | "Vivli data contributors can share files up to 500 MB. Larger sizes of up to 100T can be accommodated. If your file is larger than 1T, please contact Vivli Support at support@vivli.org" | Prices range from $2,500-$10,000 for sharing clinical data, depending on size and services selected. | MSK is not an institutional member, but if another academic institution you work with is a member of Vivli, there is no cost to deposit data in Vivli’s platform up to 500GB of data |
| Zenodo | "Zenodo supports file uploads up 50GB (= 50.000 MB) and max 100 files. Researchers can request a one-time quota increase up to 200GB for datasets." | None | Zenodo offers free DOI minting among their services |
