Beyond Open Access: Flexible Access Models at DCD@Becker

Slides from a panel presentation at the U.S. Repository Network (USRN) November 2026 Community Call, “Promoting Your Repository,” held online on November 9, 2026. FAIR does not mean open: sensitive data can still be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable when access is controlled. Digital Commons Data@Becker (DCD@Becker) is the generalist institutional data repository of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU Medicine), managed by Bernard Becker Medical Library. Launched in 2023 to support the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, it offers fully mediated curation and both open and restricted access on one platform. The presentation describes five ways researchers can share data through a single repository: open access, restricted access managed through a data transfer and use agreement, paired restricted and open records, metadata-only records, and hybrid records where documentation is open while the data stay with the owner. Every model provides a DOI, rich metadata, and, where needed, a clear path to request access, so restricted data remain findable, citable, and reusable. This approach lets researchers keep stewardship of sensitive data while meeting funder and publisher expectations without paying for an external repository, and it brings in research centers that would otherwise have no reason to deposit. Researchers tell us they value free expert curation, flexible access options, and rapid DOI assignment.