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Research Data Management

What is FAIR Data?

What is FAIR Data?

FAIR data means data that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

 

Findable:

  • (Meta)data are assigned a globally unique and persistent identifier (ex. DOI or URI)

  • Data are described with rich metadata

  • Metadata clearly and explicitly include the identifier of the data it describes

  • (Meta)data are registered or indexed in a searchable resource

Accessible:

  • (Meta)data are retrievable by their identifier using a standardized communication protocol (ex. http(s) or ftp)

    • The protocol is open, free, and universally implementable

    • The protocol allows for an authentication and authorization procedure, where necessary

  • Metadata are accessible, even when the data are no longer available

Interoperable:

  • (Meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation (ex. Dublin Core or JSON)

  • (Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles

  • (Meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data

Reusable:

  • (Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes

    • (Meta)data are released with a clear and accessible data usage license (ex. Creative Commons or MIT)

    • (Meta)data are associated with detailed provenance

    • (Meta)data meet domain-relevant community standards (ex. DataCite or Dublin Core)

FAIR Data

The Turing Way project illustration by Scriberia. Used under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. DOI: The Turing Way Community & Scriberia (2024).

References

Wilkinson, M., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data 3, 160018 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18