What is FAIR data?

Answer

The FAIR data principles are a set of guidelines to make research data and digital objects more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable by both humans and computers.

They were established in 2016 in the article ‘FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship’ and published in the journal Scientific Data.

Each letter stands for:

  • A: Make it accessible or more easy for others to understand by including sufficient documentation and metadata with your data (such as a README file or data dictionary) with your data and including a link to your data in your paper, thesis, or research profile such as ORCID.

  • R: Make it re-usable by including a clear licence which defines how it can be used by other researchers and computers.

The benefits of making your research data FAIR include:

  • Enhanced research impact: FAIR data can lead to increased data visibility and more citations for the research it is linked to.

  • More socially responsible research: FAIR promotes the greater value and re-use of data by making it more discoverable online, preventing the unnecessary duplication of research effort to collect or create data that has already been done.

  • Improved research data management: Adopting FAIR data principles throughout the research lifecycle by including them in your Data Management Plan (DMP) encourages better data management practices and compliance with institutional and funder research data policies.

  • Higher research integrity: FAIR data improves research integrity by increasing the transparency and accountability of research by making data more accessible online, straightforward to understand through detailed metadata, and easy to re-use and build upon through enhanced interoperability.

Guidance on adopting FAIR data principles in your research:

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  • Last Updated 29 Oct 2025
  • Views 4
  • Answered By Tristan Martin

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