You can add additional information to your paper, such as authors, affiliations, and funding information.
: Start using figshare today for your next dataset—even if only privately. Add metadata as you collect data, not after publication. The 15 minutes spent learning the interface will save hours of data wrangling later. figshare
Make sure your paper is complete and in a suitable format for upload. Figshare accepts various file types, including PDFs, Word documents, and LaTeX files. You can add additional information to your paper,
| Pitfall | Solution | |---------|----------| | | Always set a license before publishing. Without one, data is technically all-rights-reserved. | | No readme file | Upload a readme.txt describing file naming, software versions, and column headers. | | Inconsistent metadata | Use the “bulk edit” or API to enforce lab standards. | | Forgetting to embargo | If you have a patent pending, set an embargo (up to 4 years for institutional version). | | Using only ZIP archives | Where possible, upload raw files separately. ZIP files prevent preview and reduce interoperability. | The 15 minutes spent learning the interface will
| Criterion | figshare | Zenodo (CERN) | Dryad | OSF (Center for Open Science) | |-----------|----------|---------------|-------|----------------| | | 20 GB | 50 GB per dataset | ~$120 per dataset (no free tier) | 5 GB (unlimited for OSF storage add-on) | | DOI minting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (but less standardized) | | Institutional version | Yes (paid) | No (generic) | No | No | | Code execution | No | No | No | Yes (OSF.io integrates with GitHub) | | Embargo support | Yes | Yes (limited) | No | Yes | | Best for | All research outputs, especially large files | Software, smaller datasets, EU-funded | Biosciences | Full project workflow (preregistration, data, docs) |
| FAIR Principle | How figshare implements it | |----------------|----------------------------| | | Rich metadata, indexed by DataCite and Google Dataset Search. | | Accessible | HTTPS download, optional OAuth for restricted data. | | Interoperable | No forced conversion; machine-readable metadata (JSON-LD). | | Reusable | Clear license (user selects). CC0 recommended. Provenance via version history. |