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B2FIND review

Free#24 of 32 in Research Data Management Software

A free discovery index for searching harmonized metadata across research repositories.

6.9/10Editor score
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B2FIND6.9 Visit B2FIND

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

B2FIND is EUDAT’s metadata indexing and discovery service for researchers looking across community repositories and EUDAT data centres. It presents harvested dataset descriptions in a searchable catalogue, with links from records to data resources at their original repositories. That makes it useful for discovery across collections, but not a place to manage or deposit research data. Metadata must be public; access to the underlying datasets may still be limited by their source repositories.

Its discovery tools combine full-text search with facets for geography, time, publication year, and other metadata. B2FIND harmonizes descriptions using the EUDAT Core schema while supporting standards including DataCite, Dublin Core, OpenAIRE, INSPIRE, and DDI 2.5. This breadth helps users search across repositories that describe datasets in different ways. Repository managers and data providers can arrange integration through OAI-PMH, CSW, JSON API, and REST API harvesting, with schema mapping. Records link outward to source resources, so the original repository remains central to access and data stewardship.

B2FIND is free, available on the web and through an API, and includes command-line access using the portal API. Its listed integration is the OpenAIRE Knowledge Graph. The fit is strongest for researchers who need to locate datasets across repositories, or providers seeking to expose public metadata through supported interfaces. It is a weaker choice for teams that need deposit workflows, data storage, or access-control management within the discovery service itself; those needs belong with the original repositories or another data management system.

B2FIND pros and cons

  • Where it wins
    • Searches indexed metadata with geographic, temporal, and publication-year filters
    • Harmonizes repository descriptions using the EUDAT Core schema
    • Harvests several metadata standards and offers portal API access
  • Where it doesn't
    • Indexes metadata rather than managing or depositing research data
    • Dataset access depends on the original repository and its access limits
    • Metadata must be public to appear in B2FIND

B2FIND fact sheet, pricing and score →

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