What is the Scholarly Data Archive (SDA), and when should it be used?

The RCScholarly Data Archive (SDA)Storage services that enable short and long term storage for research computing RC Scholarly Data Archive (SDA) is Indiana University’s high-capacity, long-term storage solution for research data that requires preservation but is not currently in active use. Operated by IU’s University Information Technology Services (UITS), the SDA is designed for archival storage, meaning it is intended for data that should be securely retained for years, even decades, but that does not require frequent access or live collaboration.

SDA is particularly well-suited for:

• Data that supports research reproducibility
• Compliance with funder mandates
• Long-term institutional preservation 

Researchers might use SDA to:

• Retain a frozen copy of the dataset associated with a published article
• Satisfy data retention requirements for federal grants
• Store a secondary copy of data deposited in an external repository, primarily if the external service does not provide long-term guarantees. (This has become increasingly important in light of concerns about the sustainability and stability of disciplinary or federally funded repositories, which may face budget cuts or policy changes.)

Access to SDA is free for IU researchers, and the platform offers geographically distributed, redundant storage, automated integrity checks, and scalability up to the petabyte range. 

Researchers should consider using SDA when preparing for project closeout, grant archiving, or institutional data stewardship, particularly when long-term accessibility and preservation are required, but public sharing is not appropriate or feasible. While SDA does not serve as a public-facing repository, it complements IU’s data repositories (such as RCDataCOREProvides access & preservation services for digital research data RC DataCORE or RCDataWorksRepository for preserving and sharing IUI digital research data RC DataWorks ) and can be part of a redundant storage strategy, helping researchers maintain a secure backup copy of their critical research assets.