Before publishing data, all rights must be clarified, including rights connected with the use of third-party materials and data requiring special protection.

For data that cannot be made freely accessible, e.g., due to privacy rights, some repositories offer a staggered rights and access system. In addition, publication is possible at a later date (embargo period). Data that cannot be published should be archived.

Easy retrieval and citation of research data is ensured by persistent identification (persistent identifier); many repositories offer this as an automated service. To ensure the easy reuse of data, open data formats and open licensing are appropriate.

Possible forms of publication:

• Generic or subject-specific repositories, data centers
• Refubium, the repository of Freie Universität Berlin
• Journals ("enhanced publication")

Reference systems such as re3data are a helpful resource when searching for a suitable repository as well as for specific data sets. Zenodo and EUDAT - B2SHARE are examples of generic repositories. An overview of quality-assured data journals is provided by forschungsdaten.org.