Guidelines for Evaluating Repositories for Conformance with the DOT Public Access Plan

Researchers evaluating data repositories as the option(s) for storing and preserving their data should examine evidence demonstrating that the repository:

1.   Promotes an explicit mission of digital data archiving;
2.   Ensures compliance with legal regulations, and maintains all applicable licenses covering data access and use, including, if applicable, mechanisms
      to protect privacy rights and maintain the confidentiality of respondents;
3.   Has a documented plan for long-term preservation of its holdings;
4.   Applies documented processes and procedures in managing data storage;
5.   Performs archiving according to explicit work flows across the data life cycle;
6.   Enables the users to discover and use the data, and refer to them in a persistent way through proper citation;
7.   Enables reuse of data, ensuring appropriate formats and application of metadata;
8.   Ensures the integrity and authenticity of the data;
9.   Is adequately funded and staffed, and has a system of governance in place to support its mission; and
10. Possesses a technical infrastructure that explicitly supports the tasks and functions described in internationally accepted archival standards like Open 
     Archival Information System (OAIS).

These guidelines are based on the Data Seal of Approval.

Locate Potential Data Repositories

A growing list of DOT-conformant data repositories is maintained on this site under Info for Repositories.
Researchers may use the Registry of Research Data Repositories' searchable listing of data repositories in the United States as a starting point to locate potential archiving options for their data.