What is Zenodo and what is it used for?

Updated

Zenodo is an open repository for research outputs: datasets, software, presentations, and other research materials can be uploaded, shared, browsed, downloaded, and cited. It is useful if you are a researcher, project, or institution that needs a public, citable place to deposit research outputs, or if you are looking for openly available research materials organized by community or recency.

What you can find and do on Zenodo

The site is organized around two main discovery paths shown on its homepage:

  • Featured communities — curated collections around a topic, project, or organization. Examples from the site include:
    • EU Open Research Repository — open repository for EU-funded research outputs from Horizon Europe, Euratom, and earlier Framework Programmes.
    • AAS Journals — a collection of data and software for AAS Journal articles (ApJ, AJ, ApJL, ApJS, BAAS, PSJ, RNAAS), curated by AAS Data Editors.
    • The Generic Mapping Tools — items related to the Generic Mapping Tools software.
    • Biodiversity Literature Repository — publications related to bio-systematics.
    • Machine Learning for Particle Physics.
    • Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI) — collaborative approaches for data management and sharing within the NIH data ecosystem.
    • Aurora Universities Network — a platform for European university leaders, administrators, academics, and students.
    • European Climate and Energy Modelling Forum (ECEMF) — a Horizon 2020-funded project establishing a European forum for energy and climate researchers and policy makers.
  • Recent uploads — the newest deposits, each showing a type, version, uploader, date, and view/download counts. Examples visible on the site include:
    • A dataset (v1) titled LINF_210011300, a conserved protein of unknown function from Leishmania infantum (strain JPCM5), uploaded September 22, 2026, part of the "Leishmania and leishmaniasis" collection.
    • A dataset (v1) titled LINF_210010200, a conserved hypothetical protein from the same organism, same date and collection.
    • A presentation (v1) from the CoARA Conference 2026 by Krisztina Szepesvári on the National Chapter of Hungary, uploaded September 22, 2026, part of "CoARA National Chap…".

Who it is for

Zenodo serves researchers, projects, and institutions that want research outputs to be publicly shared and preserved. The communities listed above show the range: EU-funded projects, journal data editors, software projects, biodiversity and bio-systematics groups, particle physics and machine learning researchers, university networks, and climate/energy modelling forums.

How to decide whether to use it

Use Zenodo when you need a general-purpose, openly accessible home for a research output that can be browsed, downloaded, and cited, and when a community collection (such as those above) matches your field or funding program. If your output belongs to a specific journal's data policy or a named project community, check that community's page first, since some collections state their own curation arrangements — for example, the AAS Journals community notes that draft review and community submissions are welcome and will be curated by AAS Data Editors, with more information at the AAS data guide.

If you are looking for existing material rather than depositing it, start from Featured communities for topic-focused browsing or Recent uploads to see what is being added now.