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Where to find a fitting repository?

Repositories (repos) are the key places in RDM where well-described data can be stored permanently – and the place where scientists can search for data for reuse. In addition to repos that accommodate all types of data and institutional repos, there are a large number of subject-specific repos that are often very well designed for the respective data structure and can therefore offer advantages for publication and reuse of data.

Recommendations of the FAIRagro helpdesk

Recommended Repositories

Rey Mazón et al. (2024): Recommended repositories by the FAIRagro Helpdesk for agrosystem research

To make it easier to select an agriculture-specific repo, the FAIRagro helpdesk compiled a list of recommendations1 in 2024. This list was published on Zenodo. It is intended to provide an overview of repos relevant to agrosystem research by listing them and presenting their domain, as well as special features and possible licenses.

For which target groups is the repository list intended?
The repo list is primarily aimed at researchers in the agrosystem community who are looking for subject-specific data publication opportunities and/or suitable data sources. Various domains of agrosystem research are taken into account, such as plant research, genetics, soil data and geodata.

How are the repos described?
The list is divided into: unrestricted and partially restricted access. Within these two blocks, the order of the repos is based primarily on the respective domain, as well as on whether or not a FAIRsharing DOI and/or an entry in re3data is available. Furthermore, each repo has a short description, lists type of resources, as well as information on possible licenses and special features.

FAIRagro has set itself the goal of connecting existing research data infrastructures (RDIs) with one another. This is realized externally primarily through the data search portal of the FAIRagro Search Hub. In addition, a compilation of different infrastructures/repositories will also be searchable according to various criteria.
This infrastructure search is currently still under construction. As soon as further information is available, you will find it here and on our FAIRagro website.

re3data

re3data.org is a comprehensive registry of research data repositories that is global and covers all research disciplines.
You can use re3data to find repositories where you can discover and deposit datasets that support research such as experimental and simulation data; images, sound, and video; surveys and observations; physical samples; laboratory and clinical trial data; software source code; genomic and geospatial data; and more. [...]
You can search and filter data repositories by certification, metadata standards, and any combination of over two dozen facets. Results are displayed with icons that make it easy to quickly identify repositories by common features such as those providing open access, persistent identifiers, or data licenses. [re3data 2025, About]2

FAIRsharing

Across the research disciplines there are thousands of standards and several thousand databases, designed to assist the virtuous data cycle, from collection to annotation, through preservation and publication to subsequent sharing and reuse. As consumers of these standards and databases, it is often difficult to know which resources are the most relevant for your specific domain and needs. [...]
FAIRsharing is a web-based, searchable portal of three interlinked registries, containing both in-house and crowd-sourced manually curated descriptions of standards, databases and data policies, combined with an integrated view across all three types of resource. [FAIRsharing 2025, Educational]3

  1. Rey Mazón, E., Vedder, L., Beyer, F., & Schmidt, M. (2024). Recommended repositories by the FAIRagro Helpdesk for agrosystem research (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11144471 ↩

  2. re3data.org - Registry of Research Data Repositories. https://doi.org/10.17616/R3D. Last accessed: 2025-04-08. ↩

  3. FAIRsharing. https://fairsharing.org. Last accessed: 2025-04-08. ↩