FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These principles ensure that research data can be easily discovered, accessed, shared, and reused.
Findable:
- (Meta)data are assigned a unique and persistent identifier.
- Data is described with rich metadata.
- The identifier for the data is included in the metadata.
- Metadata and data are registered and indexed in a searchable resource.
Accessible:
- (Meta)data can be located using the identifier through standardized protocols.
- The protocols are open, free, and universally implementable and allow for authentication when necessary.
- Metadata should be accessible even when the data is no longer available.
Interoperable:
- (Meta)data use formal, accessible, shared, and widely-used knowledge representation languages.
- (Meta)data use vocabularies that adhere to FAIR principles.
- (Meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data.
- (Meta)data are stored in open file formats suitable for long-term storage and archiving.
Reusable:
- (Meta)data are richly described with diverse, precise, and relevant attributes.
- (Meta)data are shared with clear licenses for reuse.
- (Meta)data are linked to detailed documentation/provenance.
- (Meta)data adhere to relevant domain-specific standards.
It is important to note that not all principles may be fully achievable, as it can vary across disciplines and types of data.
For the complete and detailed list of principles, you can visit the Go FAIR website, where examples and further information are provided.
If you have any more questions, feel free to send an email to research-data@uio.no.