FAIR

FAIR data

The FAIR principles are the standard for responsible data management and practicing open science. They focus on ensuring that research data are reusable, will actually be reused and will become as valuable as possible. FAIR is not only aimed at human beings but puts emphasis on enhancing the ability of machines to automatically find and use the data. FAIR stands for:

  • Findable - easy discovery by both fellow researchers and computers
  • Accessible - availability to others, under well-defined conditions
  • Interoperable - easy integration and sharing across systems and platforms
  • Reusable - others can reuse your data for new research and reproduce your results

BENEFITS OF MAKING DATA FAIR

  • Better science - others can reproduce your findings, leading to more reliable, transparent, and impactful research
  • Increased visibility and citations for your published articles and datasets
  • Enabling new research questions to be answered
  • Alignment with international standards and requirements of TU/e and funding agencies
  • Increased opportunities for new partnerships with fellow researchers, as well as business, policy partners, and broader communities

FAIR DATA DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN OPEN DATA

FAIR does not imply that your data must be openly accessible to everyone. There could be valid reasons for restricting access to your data, such as safeguarding the privacy of participants, protecting intellectual property rights, or preserving commercial interests. The ultimate goal is to keep a balance between openness and restrictions. TU/e encourages you to make your research data ‘as open as possible and as closed as necessary’.

HOW TO MAKE DATA FAIR?

Findable Accesible Interoperable Reusable
  • (Meta)data are assigned a globally unique and eternally persistent identifier
  • Data are described with rich metadata
  • (Meta)data are registered or indexed in a searchable resource
  • Metadata specify the data identifier
  • (Meta)data are retrievable by their identifier using a standardized communications protocol
  • 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 is no longer available
  • (Meta)data use a formal accessible, shared and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation
  • (Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles
  • (Meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data
  • (Meta)data have a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes
  • (Meta)data are released with a clear and accessible data usage license
  • (Meta)data are associated with their provenance
  • (Meta)data meet domain-relevant community standards

 

TOOLS AND FURTHER READING

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