DataCite: an integral piece in solving the FAIR puzzle

Mary Hirsch - DataCite

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Abstract:
AIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) is how data becomes a driver of new practices in the research lifecycle and is now firmly embedded in the language of Open Science. Providing access to infrastructure that not only facilitates data sharing, but also complies with the FAIR principles is now a top priority for research organizations. 

The FAIR Data Principles lay out concrete steps for FAIRness and consolidate the role of Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) and metadata in achieving FAIRness. Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) already play a key role in connecting research, and will be essential to large scale infrastructures like the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). 

DataCite is not-for-profit member organization founded in 2009 with a mission to connect research and identify knowledge. By providing a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration service for data and a schema for the accompanying metadata DataCite embodies a practical instrument for making data FAIR. Repositories using DataCite’s DOI registration service assign a DOI to digital assets. Any DataCite DOI will be associated with metadata that must include a minimum of a URL that resolves to a landing page where the data is held, a Creator, Title, Publisher, Publication Year and Resource Type. There are extensive options for including richer metadata beyond the required fields. 

The poster will illustrate how, by providing reliable community owned infrastructure to register DOIs and metadata, DataCite is an integral piece in solving the FAIR puzzle. It will also take a look at how building services on the underlying FAIR data will ultimately connect researchers to knowledge. Finally, it will highlight the importance of the wider PID community and the collaborations that are sustained through the need to connect and discover research in an efficient way.