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Zenodo

open source / Overall score: n/a

Zenodo is a general-purpose research repository run by CERN, where anyone can deposit datasets alongside papers, software and other research outputs. Each record gets a DOI, files can be versioned under it, and a REST API handles deposit and retrieval. It was launched with OpenAIRE as a catch-all repository for EU-funded research and runs on the open-source InvenioRDM platform in CERN's data centre.

Scored for its role as a dataset repository. Zenodo accepts every kind of research artifact, and datasets are one record type among them.

Openness

5 high confidence

5.0

license: GPL-3.0(OSI)
source: public(github.com/zenodo/zenodo-rdm)
core features withheld: no — operated by CERN as a free service

Zenodo's own application is published under GPL-3.0 and built on InvenioRDM, which CERN co-develops in the open. CERN runs it as a free service, and nothing about the repository is sold.

https://about.zenodo.org/infrastructure/ recorded 2026-10-07
"Zenodo is powered by CERN Data Centre and the InvenioRDM and is fully run on open source products all the way through."
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenodo/zenodo-rdm/HEAD/LICENSE recorded 2026-10-07
GNU General Public License, Version 3, 29 June 2007, full text.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenodo/zenodo-rdm/HEAD/README.md recorded 2026-10-07
Development quick start: `git clone https://github.com/zenodo/zenodo-rdm.git`, `invenio-cli install`, `invenio-cli run`.

Adoption

not assessed

Zenodo shows view and download counts on individual records but publishes no total for datasets, and its search API refused automated queries. No figure for the repository as a whole could be read.

https://about.zenodo.org/ recorded 2026-10-07
About page: history, scope and principles; no repository-wide usage figure.

Capability

4 medium confidence

4.0

Anyone can register and deposit a dataset, which gets a DOI, versioned files and a REST API for upload and retrieval. Zenodo serves files as they were deposited and does not parse tables or annotations, which Harvard Dataverse does for tabular data.

https://about.zenodo.org/ recorded 2026-10-07
"Zenodo does not impose any requirements on format, size, access restrictions or licence."
https://about.zenodo.org/policies/ recorded 2026-10-07
"Eligible depositors: Anyone may register as user of Zenodo"; "Scope: All fields of research. All types of research artifacts."; "Data files are versioned."
https://api.datacite.org/dois/10.5281/zenodo.23213818 recorded 2026-10-07
DataCite record registered by Zenodo for a dataset: "resourceTypeGeneral": "Dataset", "publisher": "Zenodo", and "relatedIdentifiers" with "IsVersionOf" 10.5281/zenodo.23213817.
https://developers.zenodo.org/ recorded 2026-10-07
REST API reference: OAuth tokens with deposit:write and deposit:actions scopes; deposition metadata includes a version field.

Verified 2026-10-07