figshare
Reference management software
Education software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$875 one-time
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What is figshare
figshare is a research data and scholarly outputs repository used to store, publish, and share research materials such as datasets, figures, posters, presentations, and other files. It is used by researchers, universities, and publishers to support open research workflows, institutional repositories, and data availability requirements. The platform emphasizes persistent identifiers, metadata, and access controls to enable citation and reuse of research outputs. Compared with tools focused on managing bibliographic libraries and citations, figshare centers on hosting and disseminating research artifacts rather than building reference databases.
Repository for diverse outputs
figshare supports many research output types beyond articles, including datasets, figures, posters, and media files. This makes it suitable for institutions and labs that need a single place to publish and preserve non-traditional research artifacts. It also helps standardize how these outputs are described and shared through metadata and structured records.
DOI and citation support
figshare supports persistent identifiers (commonly DOIs) for published items, enabling formal citation of datasets and other outputs. This is useful for compliance with funder and journal data-sharing expectations and for tracking reuse of research materials. It complements, rather than replaces, bibliographic citation managers by focusing on citable research objects.
Institutional and publisher workflows
figshare offers organization-level implementations used by universities and publishers to manage repositories and research output publishing workflows. These deployments typically include administrative controls, governance features, and branding for institutional collections. This positions the product for campus-wide research support use cases rather than individual-only reference management.
Not a reference manager
figshare does not primarily function as a personal reference library for PDFs, annotations, and citation formatting. Users who need in-document citation insertion, bibliography styling, and deep word-processor integrations generally require a dedicated reference management tool. As a result, it is often an adjacent system in the research stack rather than a replacement for citation managers.
Repository setup can be complex
Institutional implementations can require planning around metadata standards, permissions, retention policies, and repository governance. Organizations may need administrator time to configure collections, review workflows, and integrations. This can be heavier than adopting an individual-focused tool that works out of the box for personal libraries.
Access and licensing decisions required
Publishing research outputs requires clear choices about embargoes, access levels, and licensing, which can slow adoption in groups without established policies. Sensitive data may require additional controls or alternative storage approaches depending on institutional requirements. These considerations can add process overhead compared with tools that only manage citations locally.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Individual (figshare.com) | Free — 20 GB private storage; max individual file size 20 GB | Free individual accounts include publishing with DOI, metrics (views/downloads), and account limits (items/projects). Source: figshare help/docs. |
| Figshare for Institutions | Custom pricing (contact sales) | Subscription-based institutional repository. Pricing is tiered based on research intensity and chosen options (storage type/amount, DOI minting, migration). Implementation included in license. |
| Figshare Plus (one-time data publishing charge) | Usage-based — see details below | One-time charge to publish larger datasets (over 20 GB). Includes larger single-file uploads (up to 5 TB), expert curation support, DOI per dataset, and storage sold in increments. |
Usage-based details: Pricing model: One-time pay-per-project data publishing charge (volume-based) Free tier/trial: Up to 20 GB can be published for free on figshare.com. Example costs (one-time data publishing charge):
- Up to 20 GB: Publish for free on figshare.com
- 21 GB – 250 GB: $875 (one-time)
- 251 GB – 500 GB: $1,750 (one-time)
- 501 GB – 750 GB: $2,625 (one-time)
- 751 GB – 1 TB: $3,500 (one-time) Notes: Prices stated on Figshare Plus page; prices exclude taxes and are subject to change. For institutional subscriptions and other add-ons (curation services, training), Figshare requests contacting sales for quotes.
Seller details
Digital Science & Research Solutions Ltd.
London, United Kingdom
2011
Private
https://figshare.com/
https://x.com/figshare
https://www.linkedin.com/company/figshare
