FAIR data

The Open Data Editor (ODE) improves data quality based on the FAIR principles.

As described by the GO FAIR initiative, FAIR data refers to data that adheres to the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable principles, designed to make research data more discoverable and usable by people and machines, enhancing its value and reuse.

Findable
The first step in (re)using data is to find it. Metadata and data should be easy to find for both humans and computers.

Accessible
Once the user finds the required data, they need to know how it can be accessed, possibly including authentication and authorisation.

Interoperable
The data usually need to be integrated with other data. In addition, the data needs to interoperate with applications or workflows for analysis, storage, and processing.

Reusable
The ultimate goal of FAIR is to optimise the reuse of data. To achieve this, metadata and data should be well-described so that they can be replicated and/or combined in different settings.

Learn all about the FAIR principles in Module 4 of the ‘Quality and Consistent Data with ODE’ course, available on School of Data.