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Zenodo

In-depth entry

by CERN (with OpenAIRE) · Platform

Free general-purpose research repository operated by CERN that assigns DOIs to datasets, software, papers and other outputs, with a REST API, OAI-PMH, GitHub release archiving and CC0 metadata

Open sourceFreeCloudSelf-hostable
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Zenodo is a free, general-purpose repository for research outputs run by the CERN Data Centre on the InvenioRDM platform and funded by CERN, OpenAIRE and the European Union. Researchers in any discipline deposit datasets, software, preprints, posters, reports and other materials; each record receives a DOI (with a concept DOI spanning versions), files are stored in CERN's data centres with replicas, and the policy is to retain items for the lifetime of the repository. Records can be open, embargoed until a date or restricted, every public file must carry a licence chosen by the depositor, and all metadata are released under CC0 and harvestable through OAI-PMH. Per-record size quotas exist with larger allocations available on request.

The REST API supports the full deposit workflow (create a deposition, upload files, set metadata, publish) with personal access tokens and a sandbox instance for testing, search of published records, and monthly metadata dumps for bulk use; rate limits are stricter for guests and for search and harvesting endpoints. The GitHub integration archives each software release automatically and mints a DOI, with a .zenodo.json file to control metadata, which has made Zenodo the de facto way to make code citable. Zenodo is not a curated or domain-specific archive: it performs no peer review or data validation, discovery depends on good metadata, and very large datasets or restricted-access workflows are better served by disciplinary repositories.

Editorial note on uncertainty. self_hostable refers to the open-source InvenioRDM/zenodo-rdm software; the Zenodo service itself is operated only by CERN. No SPDX identifier recorded for the service.

Capabilities

  • DOI assignment with versioning and concept DOIs
  • Deposit of datasets, software, papers and other outputs
  • Open, embargoed and restricted access modes
  • REST API with tokens and a sandbox
  • OAI-PMH harvesting and monthly metadata dumps
  • GitHub release archiving with .zenodo.json metadata
  • Communities for curating collections
  • CC0 metadata licence

Typical workflows

  1. Depositing a replication package for a published paper
  2. Minting a DOI for each tagged release of a research software repository
  3. Archiving a dataset under embargo until publication

Strengths

  • Free and backed by CERN infrastructure
  • Any discipline and output type
  • Documented API and GitHub integration

Limitations

  • No curation or peer review of deposits
  • Per-record size quota unless increased on request
  • Not optimized for restricted or sensitive data workflows

Prerequisites

  • Free account (ORCID or GitHub login supported)

Who it is for

  • Researchers publishing replication packages
  • Software developers making code citable
  • Journals requiring data availability

Alternatives & comparison

OSF manages projects, preregistrations and preprints with storage add-ons rather than serving primarily as a DOI-minting archive; GitHub hosts code but does not guarantee preservation or DOIs, which is why Zenodo archives its releases; arXiv is for papers only.

  • arXiv

    Free, moderated open-access preprint server for physics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, quantitative finance, economics and related fields, with an open API and bulk access

    Open sourceFree
  • Crossref

    Membership organization that registers DOIs for scholarly content and exposes the metadata through a free public REST API, content negotiation and the paid Metadata Plus service

    ProprietaryFree
  • GitHub

    Microsoft-owned code hosting platform for Git repositories with pull requests, issues, Actions CI/CD, package registry, Copilot and the largest open-source community

    ProprietaryFreemium
  • ORCID

    Non-profit registry of persistent researcher identifiers (ORCID iDs) with user-controlled records, Public and Member APIs, OAuth sign-in and an annual CC0 public data file

    Open sourceFree
  • OSF (Open Science Framework)

    Free, open-source research management platform from the Center for Open Science for projects, preregistrations, registries, preprint services and linking outputs across storage providers

    Open sourceFree
  • SSRN

    Elsevier-owned preprint and working-paper platform with discipline networks, author pages, download rankings and institutional research paper series, free to post and read

    ProprietaryFree
Compare Zenodo with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • Official documentation
    Developers | Zenodo

    https://developers.zenodo.org/

    Supports: capabilities, interfaces

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official documentation
    Zenodo Help

    https://help.zenodo.org/

    Supports: docs_url

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Zenodo

    https://zenodo.org/

    Supports: name, summary

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Policy page
    Zenodo Policies

    https://about.zenodo.org/policies

    Supports: description, limitations, vendor

    Retention, DOI versioning, licences, CC0 metadata, size limits

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Repository
    zenodo/zenodo-rdm

    https://github.com/zenodo/zenodo-rdm

    Supports: repo_url, source_model

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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