Repositories for Environmental Health Sciences Data

The landscape of biomedical data repositories is vast and evolving. As outlined in NIH's guidance for Selecting a Data Repository, using a quality data repository generally improves the FAIRness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable) of the data. For that reason, NIH strongly encourages the use of established repositories to the extent possible for preserving and sharing scientific data.

Selecting a Data Repository:

1. For some programs or Funding Opportunities, NIH and/or NIEHS identify particular data repositories (or sets of repositories) to be used to preserve and share the data. For data generated from research subject to such policies or funded under such NOFOs, researchers should use the designated data repository(ies).
2. For data generated from research for which no data repository is specified by NIH, researchers are encouraged to select a data repository that is appropriate for the data generated from the research project.
   • Primary consideration should be given to data repositories that are discipline or data-type specific to support effective data discovery and reuse. Resources available to help researchers locate an appropriate repository for sharing or accessing data include the following:
     • The NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Domain Specific Data Repositories Dashboard lists domain-specific repositories that align with NIEHS-supported science areas.
     • The NIH BioMedical Informatics Coordinating Committee (BMIC) Data Sharing Repositories website lists additional NIH-supported data sharing resources.
   • If no appropriate discipline or data-type specific repository is available, researchers should consider a variety of other potentially suitable data sharing options:
     • Small datasets (up to 2 GB in size) may be included as supplementary material to accompany articles submitted to PubMed Central (instructions).
     • Data repositories, including generalist repositories or institutional repositories, that make data available to the larger research community, institutions, or the broader public.
     • Large datasets may benefit from cloud-based data repositories for data access, preservation, and sharing.

To learn more about methods for data sharing and selecting data repositories visit the NIH Sharing Scientific Data webpage.

Data and Metadata Standards Resources for Environmental Health Sciences

The Environmental Health Language Collaborative provides resources for getting started with ontologies, terminologies, and tools useful to harmonize EH research. The EHS Ontology Resources Catalog provides a compilation of organizations, ontologies/terminologies, and tools useful to harmonize environmental health research.

Data Management and Sharing Plan Development Resources

For information on NIEHS-specific recommendations on what to include in a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan, please visit the NIEHS Data Management and Sharing Plan Development webpage.

The NIEHS Superfund Research Program Data Sharing Resources webpage provides information and resources on data sharing, data repositories, citing data, data integration, and data science training.

Additionally, several community resources and tools are available to help researchers create, review, and share Data Management and Sharing Plans that meet institutional and funder requirements. Check out the resources below.

• DMPTool: Build a data management plan using this open-access data management plan tool that meets institutional and funder requirements.
• DMPonline: DMPonline helps to create, review, and share data management plans that meet institutional and funder requirements.
• UK Data Service: UK Data Service provides various resources to manage data and includes a checklist for identifying data management and sharing best practices.