Towards the Tipping Point for FAIR Implementation

Abstract

This article explores the global implementation of the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific management and data stewardship, which provide that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. The implementation of these principles is designed to lead to the stewardship of data as FAIR digital objects and the establishment of the Internet of FAIR Data and Services (IFDS). If implementation reaches a tipping point, IFDS has the potential to revolutionize how data is managed by making machine and human readable data discoverable for reuse. Accordingly, this article examines the expansion of the implementation of FAIR Guiding Principles, especially how and in which geographies (locations) and areas (topic domains) implementation is taking place. A literature review of academic articles published between 2016 and 2019 on the use of FAIR Guiding Principles is presented. The investigation also includes an analysis of the domains in the IFDS Implementation Networks (INs). Its uptake has been mainly in the Western hemisphere. The investigation found that implementation of FAIR Guiding Principles has taken firm hold in the domain of bio and natural sciences. To achieve a tipping point for FAIR implementation, it is now time to ensure the inclusion of non-European ascendants and of other scientific domains. Apart from equal opportunity and genuine global partnership issues, a permanent European bias poses challenges with regard to the representativeness and validity of data and could limit the potential of IFDS to reach across continental boundaries. The article concludes that, despite efforts to be inclusive, acceptance of the FAIR Guiding Principles and IFDS in different scientific communities is limited and there is a need to act now to prevent dampening of the momentum in the development and implementation of the IFDS. It is further concluded that policy entrepreneurs and the GO FAIR INs may contribute to making the FAIR Guiding Principles more flexible in including different research epistemologies, especially through its GO CHANGE pillar.

Towards adopting open and data‐driven science practices in bed form dynamics research, and some steps to this end

“…These principles are expected to systematically facilitate both humans and their machines to discover, get access to, integrate, and analyse scientific data and other scholarly digital objects such as algorithms, code, and workflows that led to published data, among others (Wilkinson et al, 2016). At present, nevertheless, there are concerns over the paucity of their implementation outside the European continent and their relatively limited application in natural science (Van Reisen et al, 2020). This study also reports that there is still important work to do to reach the FAIR tipping point, namely: (1) solving some 49 OPEN/DATA-DRIVEN SCIENCE IN BED FORM DYNAMICS problems regarding FAIR implementation (e.g.…”

FAIR Practices in Africa

“…An analysis of the INs of GO FAIR to date demonstrates a geographic bias of implementation in Europe, reflecting perhaps the leadership provided to it by the European Commission. Comparative literature review of a hundred articles citing FAIR principles, published in the period 2016-2019, shows the current delay in Africa on FAIR-implementation, and its overwhelming concentration centred in Europe and the US [3]. Analysis of domain areas addressed both in INs and in the hundred journal articles reporting on FAIR implementation and analysed in a literature review showed a clear focus on implementation in the life sciences and natural sciences.…”

“…[2] The implementation of FAIR is supported by the GO FAIR Implementation Networks. This recognises the dynamic process of its construction [3]. The GO FAIR International Support and Coordination Office (GFISCO) supports the Implementation Networks (INs): "a consortium committed to defining and creating materials and tools as elements of the Internet of FAIR Data and Services (IFDS)" [4].…”

Research data management for open science

“…There are emerging design principles for managing digital resources in the infrastructure landscape, such as findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles for data repositories. We qualify them as emergent as FAIR principles as research communities still discuss and seek to implement FAIR principles (van Reisen et al, 2019). Therefore, the design of information systems for open science is a novel and explorative inquiry.…”

“…Therefore, a significant part of improving research resides in how scientific data, software, and other relevant material can be better preserved and shared between scientific communities to make research communication more transparent and reproducible (Prager et al, 2019). In consequence, a crucial element of the success of OS is the proper management (also known as stewardship) of Introduction -5 - (van Reisen et al, 2019). The recent uptake of research data management (RDM), as a means for funders to (partly) correct these inefficiencies, is an intriguing attempt to transform scientific practice.…”