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FAIR-Data Principles

These Principles were extracted from the paper: The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship

Findability

  • (meta)data are assigned a globally unique and persistent identifier
  • 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

Accessibility

  • (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 are no longer available

Interoperability

  • (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

Reusability

  • 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
    • (meta)data are associated with detailed provenance
    • (meta)data meet domain-relevant community standards
Created September 18, 2018, Updated August 13, 2025
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