Why use figshare?

Figshare is a repository for University of Adelaide staff and HDR students to store, share and publish digital files. It accepts all forms of digital research outputs including audio, video, PDF, images, code, datasets, presentations and more, and enables you to meet the requirements of the Research Data and Primary Materials Policy.  

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Benefits include:

  • Easy  to upload and access files.
  • Simple metadata requirements.
  • Files can be public or private.
  • Allocates a DOI to your files, enabling citations and preserving access.
  • Assigns a license to determine conditions of re-use of your files.
  • Enables secure file sharing.
  • Meets journal open data availability requirements.
  • Manages embargos to allow you to control access.
  • Records altmetrics - views, shares, downloads, etc. 
  • Data are discoverable via Research Data Australia.

  • How can I use figshare?
    • Share and collaborate with others on your research data (past or present) so that they can use your research in their work. A unique citable identifier in the form of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be assigned to your published data or collections.
    • Secure and control your valuable research data with safe and secure institutional storage. Control access to your work: make your data private, shareable with selected individuals or groups, or make it fully public with the ability to change access at any time. 
    • Grow your research profile by building a portfolio of work that can be used as evidence when applying for grants, funding, and jobs. 
    • Showcase and share your portfolio of research using unique, citable DOIs, meaning your research is discoverable by the wider community. You can also add your Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCiD) to your figshare account. 
    • Access anywhere, any time and upload and cite data in any file format. 
    • Set embargos so you can hold off publishing your research data until your research is published. 
    • Meet publisher and funder open source compliance requirements by making your research data publicly available. Open research data will extend the benefits as data can be combined with other data, re-analysed and/or used for different purposes. 

  • What can I upload?

    You can upload the following types of data/digital objects:

    • Datasets
    • File sets
    • Multimedia such as videos, audio files, etc.
    • Diagrams
    • Figures and images (illustrations and diagrams)
    • Presentations
    • Code scripts, binaries

    Figshare will accept and display almost every file type. 

    If you’re unsure about whether or not your digital object should be uploaded to Figshare or should be deposited into Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) instead, see the AR&S Repository Submission Guidelines.

  • What shouldn't I upload?

    Open access publications and theses should continue to be published in our institutional repository, Adelaide Research and Scholarship. 

    Large and complex data sets may be better managed in discipline-specific repositories. You can create a linked file record in Figshare with a URL pointing to where the data are stored online. Take care and read further information below if you are intending to make sensitive data discoverable. 

    Important: If you are an HDR student and unsure about what should/ shouldn't be published on Figshare, please speak with your supervisor before publishing. 

  • How much can I upload?

    By default, you have 5Tb of personal storage on Figshare. You can upload:

    • Files up to 5Gb in size.
    • A maximum of 500 items.
    • A maximum of 500 files per item.

    If you need to upload more files or larger files, please speak to the Research Technology Support Team.

  • Publishing sensitive data

    Be careful when publishing confidential or commercially sensitive data in figshare, and make sure you are not breaching any confidentiality agreements and are complying with the University's Information Classification and Protection guideline.  

    In figshare you have the option of creating a metadata only record for your data, or of making the files confidential. 

    You can find more detailed information about sensitive data at figshare support.