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Dryad

open source / Overall score: n/a

Dryad is a non-profit repository for research data from all fields, where every submitted dataset is checked by Dryad's curators before it is published. Published datasets carry DataCite metadata and a DOI, keep their versions, and can be listed and downloaded through a REST API. Publishing carries a charge unless an institution, journal or funder sponsors it, and downloads are free.

Openness

5 high confidence

5.0

license: MIT(OSI)
source: public(github.com/datadryad/dryad-app)
core features withheld: no — non-profit membership organization

The application that runs datadryad.org is published under the MIT license. Dryad charges for curating and publishing a dataset, a service rather than a part of the software held back.

https://datadryad.org/costs recorded 2026-10-07
"Our Data Publishing Charge (DPC) is based on the variable costs of curating, publishing, and preserving a dataset."
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datadryad/dryad-app/HEAD/LICENSE.md recorded 2026-10-07
"The MIT License (MIT) Copyright (c) 2023-2024 Dryad; Copyright (c) 2015-2023 The Regents of the University of California".
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datadryad/dryad-app/HEAD/README.md recorded 2026-10-07
"Dryad is a research data publishing platform based on the UC Curation Center's implementation of the Stash application framework", with installation and deployment instructions.

Adoption

not assessed

Dryad publishes no repository-wide download or user figure, and its reports API listed nothing. The count of published datasets measures what it holds rather than its use, so no reading was recorded.

https://datadryad.org/api/v2/datasets recorded 2026-10-07
Dataset listing: "total": 72656 published datasets; no download counts.

Capability

4 medium confidence

4.0

Datasets get a DOI, numbered versions and a REST API that downloads them by DOI, and partner systems can create submissions programmatically, with DataCite metadata throughout. Like Zenodo it serves files as they were deposited, where Harvard Dataverse parses tabular data on its servers; a curator reviews each dataset before it is published.

https://datadryad.org/about recorded 2026-10-07
Dryad's community of institutions, funders, societies and publishers invests in it "for the curation, open sharing and reuse of research data in all fields".
https://datamanagement.hms.harvard.edu/share/data-repositories recorded 2026-10-07
Dryad: "Data downloading via API Yes"; "Uses the DataCite metadata schema"; "$120 data publishing charge unless funded by the institution, publishers or funders."
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datadryad/dryad-app/HEAD/documentation/apis/README.md recorded 2026-10-07
"Download the most recent version of a dataset: /api/v2/datasets/doi.../download"; "The Submission API is used by systems that want to partner more closely with Dryad and create dataset submissions directly."

Verified 2026-10-07