Submitting Research Data
Data sharing allows data generated from one research study to be used to answer questions beyond the original study. It reinforces open scientific inquiry, encourages diversity of analysis, supports studies on data collection methods and measurement, facilitates the education of new researchers, enables the exploration of topics not envisioned by the initial investigators, and permits the creation of new datasets when data from multiple sources are combined.
The following table highlights several data repositories available through the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons (CRDC), where data can be submitted. Please note it is not a comprehensive list.
Submitting Data to the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons
The CRDC provides repositories to store diverse data types. Currently, data submission requests can be made by completing an application at each target repository’s website or by contacting the repository’s helpdesk.
| Data Domains | Target Repository* | Submit |
|---|---|---|
| Genomic - Non-harmonized genomic data | Cancer Data Service | CDSHelpDesk@nih.gov |
| Genomic - Harmonized genomic data (e.g., tumor-normal pair) | Genomic Data Commons | https://gdc.cancer.gov/submit-data/requesting-data-submission |
| Proteomic - Mass Spectrometry | Proteomic Data Commons | https://pdc.cancer.gov/pdc/submit-data |
| Proteomic - Other (e.g., Reverse-phase protein arrays) | Cancer Data Service | CDSHelpDesk@nih.gov |
| Imaging - Radiology | The Cancer Imaging Archive** (Imaging Data Commons in 2021) | https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/primary-data/ |
| Imaging - Digital Pathology | The Cancer Imaging Archive** (Imaging Data Commons in 2021) | https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/primary-data/ |
| Imaging - Other (e.g., Cellular Imaging) | Cancer Data Service (Imaging Data Commons in 2021) | CDSHelpDesk@nih.gov |
| Clinical - Demographics, phenotypes |
| |
| Other - Flow cytometry, videos, etc. | Figshare (up to 20 GB) | https://nih.figshare.com/ |
*CRDC is under active development and target repositories may change as new components become available.
** All clinical imaging data will need to be de-identified through The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) before storing on the Imaging Data Commons (IDC).
Submitting Genomic Data
Submitting genomic research data enables translating research findings into knowledge, products, and procedures that improve human health. NCI supports and complies with all NIH data sharing policies including the NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy that:
- Promotes broad and robust sharing of human and non-human data from a wide range of genomic research
- Ensures appropriate protections for research involving human data and oversight of research conduct, data quality, data management, data sharing, and data use
Researchers submitting genomic data should refer to the data practices, file formats, resources, and processes appropriate for their role:
For an overview of resources and instructions to request to submit genomic data to NIH/NCI repositories, review the Genomic Data Sharing page.