Open Scientific Publications and Research Data

7. FAIR Principles

The effective use of open research data depends on the application of the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), which ensure that data can be easily located, accessed, combined, and reused by the wider scientific community.

Data should be managed in accordance with FAIR guidelines, which include a series of steps for their proper management, access to documentation necessary for understanding the data, as well as protocols, instruments, and software code used to collect and prepare the data for analysis. It is also essential to create a standard metadata description, assign persistent identifiers, and, where possible, use open licenses.

In cases where open licences cannot be applied, data can still be FAIR, provided it is closed only to the extent necessary. This is most often done to protect research participants or sensitive information. Even in such cases, metadata should remain publicly available, and the conditions for accessing the data should be clearly defined.

Universities and their constituent institutions must provide comprehensive support to researchers in managing research data throughout the entire project lifecycle. Researchers should store their data in trustworthy disciplinary or thematic repositories, if such are available and relevant to their field. This increases the visibility of data within specific scientific communities. When specialized repositories are not an option, data is stored in institutional repositories. In both cases, priority should be given to repositories that are part of the national infrastructure, ensuring long-term sustainability, interoperability, and compliance with national open science guidelines.