Recently, we started a research study and found that we're expected to share our data on the NIMH Data Archive, or NDA for short. My understanding is that in the future, most or all research studies funded by the NIH will need to add their data to this system. As a newcomer, I've found some parts of this process to be challenging; I'm writing this guide in the hopes of helping other people to have an easier time than we've had. My hope is that over time, the NDA improves so this guide is no longer important.
This guide is intended for people who are pretty deeply involved in running the sort of study that would need to be shared in the NDA. Expect jargon and acronyms, and a general familiarity with human subjects research.
The study we're sharing is a moderately-large (~350 participant) study, incorporating functional MRI, questionnaires, behavioral tasks, and psychophysiology data. We aren't collecting some of the modalities (EEG, EGG, Eyetracking, Omics) that the NDA can accommodate, so I won't cover those topics here.
Also! As mentioned above, I'm a data submitter on my first project, not an expert or authority on this system. I may very well be wrong about things! For expert guidance, contact the NDA Help Desk directly.