Yale Dataverse FAQs

An open-source, generalist repository software application for archiving, sharing, and accessing any kind of publication-ready research data- quantitative, qualitative, GIS, images, etc. generated by Yale researchers.

As a repository designed for sharing and accessing data as well as supporting reproducibility, we welcome publication-ready data, including tabular data, images, GIS data, etc.  

We also encourage users to include ample documentation such as README files and Codebooks, detailing how they have analyzed/manipulated the data uploaded to the repository.

For guidance on organizing and documenting your research data and analysis, reach out to Yale’s Research Data Management Librarian, Dr. Brandon J. Miliate (brandon.miliate@yale.edu).

All Yale-affiliated researchers with active CAS logins can deposit their research data in Yale Dataverse. Once uploaded, data in Dataverse is generally openly and freely accessible. 

If you do not have Yale credentials but are collaborating with Yale researchers, submit this form to request an account. We will confirm your role in the project and provide a username and password.

Dataverse can accept most file types - please reach out to us if you notice any issues with a particular file type.

There are some default restrictions on file size, especially regarding zip/compressed files:

-Zip files can contain up to 8000 files.
-Zip files larger than 2.5GB may not upload or process in a timely manner. You can contact dataverseadmin@yale.edu to discuss possible alternative upload options. 
-Up to 1000 files can be uploaded into a single dataset at once.  
- The system will allow users to download a max zip file of 11 GB. Please contact us for larger download needs.

The Yale Dataverse is funded and supported by Yale Library as a resource for the Yale research community.  There is no cost to deposit data into the Yale Dataverse.

Users do not need to log on to access data on Yale Dataverse. To deposit data and register for a user account, log in with your Yale NetID on the login page. Additional details and guidance can be found in the Quick Start Guide.

Authors who deposit their data into Yale Dataverse may choose to use a variety of Creative Commons licenses to permit broad re-use of their works, or they may reserve their copyrights and make their work available under default legal rules. In any case, as with all copyrighted works, users are always free to make fair uses and other lawful uses of works downloaded from Yale Dataverse.

For more detailed information about copyright and licensing, users may consult the Copyright Guidance Library Guide.

All users are encouraged to book a consultation with Yale’s Research Data Management Librarian, Dr. Brandon J. Miliate (brandon.miliate@yale.edu) to discuss how best to prepare and upload your data into Dataverse. Or book an appointment here.

You only need a user account for Yale Dataverse to create dataverses, datasets, or to upload data. You do not need a user account to download data (with the exception of specific files with restricted access).

If you do not have Yale credentials but are collaborating with Yale researchers, submit this form to request an account. We will confirm your role in the project and provide a username and password.

To become a user, go to https://dataverse.yale.edu/(Link is external)  and click on the “Log In” button. Select “Yale University” under “Your Institution.”  Log in with your Yale NetID.

Note: You do not need to be a user (I.e., to have an account) to search, browse, or download from the Yale Dataverse. 

You must be a user (i.e., have an account on Yale Dataverse) to be able to create a dataverse and upload files. Any Yale-affiliated researcher with an active CAS login can create an account.

Though we don’t enforce strict rules on naming, we do recommend two things as best practice:

1. The name should indicate something specific about the project or researcher. For example, individuals using their primary dataverse as a repository for multiple projects, may use a name like “John Smith Dataverse”. Likewise, if organized around a specific project a name like “PROJECT NAME Dataverse” would be appropriate.
2. The name should have “Dataverse” at the end.

When you create a new dataverse, you will be prompted to provide a name, description, and url, as well as decide on the types of descriptive metadata (i.e. information about your data that supports its discovery) you would like to have for any datasets that you will deposit. Please consult the Quick Start Guide for additional details.

The system will generate a thumbnail image for your dataset depending on the type of files included. However, you may also include a custom logo/thumbnail, if you wish.

To display an image or logo as a thumbnail in the list of dataverses and datasets:

1. In the relevant Dataverse, click Edit, select “Theme + Widgets.”
2. Click “Upload Image” for the “Logo Image” field to upload the image from your local disk, keep other options as the default. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page. This will display your logo as a small thumbnail in the Yale Dataverse entry. 
3. If you would like to display the logo on the top of your dataverse page, please contact us at dataverseadmin@yale.edu for assistance.

Yes. Users will need to create an account first and then you can assign them a role with the appropriate permissions. 

To add collaborators to your project, navigate to your dataverse, click on the “Edit” drop down menu in the upper right, and select “Permissions”. You can change users and their role in the second drop down menu “Users/Groups.” To add a collaborator to a project they must have registered with Yale Dataverse by logging in at least once.

Dataverse recognizes 8 different roles, all with varying permissions. It is important to pay attention to the kinds of permissions given to each role, as many of these offer subtle distinctions that are not always necessary. In general, the following are the most useful roles to keep in mind:

Admin: A person who has all permissions for dataverses, datasets, and files, including approving requests to access restricted data. Users who create a new dataverse are automatically assigned this role.

Dataverse + Dataset Creator: A person who can add sub-dataverses and datasets within a dataverse.

Once you have created your dataverse, you can add datasets. 

Navigate to your dataverse and then select “Add Data” in the upper right, and “New Dataset.” (Note that you do not want to click on the other “Add Data” option in the site banner as that will upload your dataset outside your newly created dataverse). 

Before uploading you will be asked to provide the metadata that you indicated as optional or required when setting up your dataverse. 

The definition of a dataset is very flexible and can consist of one or more data files or a full replication package, including code files, databases, README files, and other materials. You may choose to upload individual files/folders or compressed/zipped files. By default, Yale Dataverse unzips compressed files and displays the underlying file structure. The system also automatically processes and converts STATA, .csv and .xlsx files to .tab files. However, you have the option to download files in a range of file types or as zipped files after uploading. 

To maintain a folder structure and file paths, you must upload a zipped folder. Uploaded ZIP files will automatically have their internal file structure preserved. You may also manually specify the file path when uploading standard files for each file. For datasets containing many files, however, it may not be practical to manually enter the file path for all items.

Notifications appear in the notifications tab on your account page and are also displayed as a number next to your account name. You also receive notifications via email.  

You will typically receive a notification or email when: 

• You’ve created your account. 
• You’ve created a Dataverse collection or added a dataset. 
• Another Dataverse user has requested access to restricted files in a dataset that you published. 
• A file in one of your datasets has finished the ingest process. 

Advanced users may wish to interact with Dataverse through an API.

There are a couple of packages for interacting with Dataverse through code, including: 

• pydataverse: https://pydataverse.readthedocs.io/(Link is external) 
• Native API: https://guides.dataverse.org/en/latest/api/native-api.html

Users are advised to follow general guidelines carefully to ensure that they are creating dataverses/datasets that conform to best practice.

Templates can be used to input instructions for those uploading datasets into your dataverse if you have a specific way you want a metadata field to be filled out across a project. You can also auto-populate any metadata or citation data that may be the same across a project, such as authors, ORCIDs, and Terms of use. 

1. Log into the Yale Dataverse and navigate to the appropriate Dataverse.
2. From the Edit menu, select Dataset Templates, then Create Dataset Template.  
3. Enter a Template Name. Enter custom instructions (if needed) and values for the metadata fields that should be auto populated. Click Save + Add Terms at the bottom of the page. 
4. On the next page, add any custom Terms of Use and Access. Click Save Dataset Template at the bottom of the page. 
5. When you next go to add a dataset, you can select the template you created in the second field, titled “Dataset Template” 

In general, you may create a dataverse and upload datasets at any time; however, we strongly recommend ensuring that you allow yourself some buffer time ahead of any strict deadlines. 

Yale Dataverse undergoes regular service maintenance on the 4th Wednesday of every month from 8-8:30am; there may be a brief 5-10 minute interval during this time when the system is unavailable. This maintenance guarantees the long-term viability of the system.

Additionally, approximately once per quarter, the system is updated, during which users will not be able to upload new files for 2-3 days. We announce these updates to all users one week ahead of time.