2 FAIR Principles
The goal of the FAIR principles is to improve research transparency, reproducibility and reusability. To achieve this, your research needs to be thoroughly described through metadata, should be open for inspection, well-documented, and structured effectively. This ensures that it can be replicated, expanded upon, merged, reinterpreted, or reimplemented in various settings. The acronym FAIR stands for:
- Findable: Your data and research can be easily found (i.e. has rich metadata, unique identifiers).
- Accessible: Once found, it can be accessed, ideally through well-defined and open protocols.
- Interoperable: Your research is compatible with other datasets, tools, and workflows, allowing for integration and reuse across various applications and fields.
- Reusable: The ultimate goal is that your research outputs can be reused in different contexts. This requires comprehensive documentation and clear licensing.
2.1 FAIR for Research Software
While the original FAIR principles primarily target data management in scientific research, the FAIR for Research Software (shortened as FAIR4RS) extends these principles specifically to research software.
Unlike data, software is executable and often evolves over time through versions and updates, necessitating distinct considerations for findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability.
For example, ensuring the findability of software may involve not just metadata and identifiers but also version control systems and repositories (e.g. GitHub) specifically designed for software. Accessibility might include clear guidelines on how to obtain, install, and run the software. Interoperability in the context of software could be adherence to community driven standards or protocols. Lastly, the reusability of software extends beyond data reuse principles to include aspects such as documentation of code, user guides to ensure that the software can be effectively applied in new research projects.
2.2 FAIR software checklist
The checklist below is in part based on the checklist provided by the eScience Center, licensed under CC BY 4.0. You can also find these FAIR cards in the appendix, ready to copy and paste in Markdown formatting.
2.2.1 Example repository
- TU Delft - Transposonmapper - Transposonmapper is an open-source Python package and Docker image for mapping transposons from sequencing data.
- The Turing Way - Guide for Reproducible Research - general guide to reproducible research
- FAIR Principles
- FAIR Principles for Research Software
- TU Delft FAIR4RS program
- FAIR4RS community in Zenodo