This blog post has been jointly published by UKRN and FAIRsharing, and authored by Allyson Lister (0000-0002-7702-4495), Danny Smith (0000-0002-0724-2374), and Susanna-Assunta Sansone (0000-0001-5306-5690).
The application of the FAIR Principles to digital research objects are endorsed by funders and publishers worldwide. In the UK, policies from UKRI (for both research data and AI research), UKRIO, and DSIT increasingly mandate FAIR compliance to ensure research data is modernised and AI-ready. However, as this EOSC report has highlighted, claims of “FAIRness” are often difficult to verify or compare due to a fragmented landscape of opaque, tool-specific assessment methods. To address this, FAIRsharing and ORA (University of Oxford) together with the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) have launched the FAIR Institutional Repository Metrics (FIRM) project. FIRM defines a transparent, common compliance process specifically for generalist institutional repositories, catering for a variety of research digital objects across all disciplines. While the FIRM project is tailored to engage with partners of the UKRN Open Research Programme (ORP), this FAIR compliance process is designed to be applicable to any institutional repository regardless of discipline.
ORA supports the FAIR principles in its structure and design, and the University more widely in policy and principle. However, there is no infrastructure to assess FAIRness of datasets submitted to ORA. This project work allows a clear and defined approach to measuring the ‘FAIRness’ of deposits to the repository, whilst supporting depositors in both meeting their responsibilities under University Policy, and maximising the engagement with their research.
ORA, University of Oxford
This FAIR compliance process uses a transparent procedure that shifts the focus from assessment to assistance, developed by the EOSC OSTrails project, of which the FAIRsharing team is a part. Designed for developers and technical research support staff, the FAIR compliance process provides shared ‘components’ to define, test , and improve FAIRness within specific contexts. A number of supporting services powers this FAIR compliance process, also ensuring that these components are shared and discoverable so that they can be reused by different communities. In particular, FAIRsharing provides curated metadata on standards and policies to give these components the compliance and assistance context; the new FAIRsharing’s FAIRassist service serves as the registry for some of the components.
Originally started as an Oxford activity between the FAIRsharing and ORA teams under the Oxford Research Practice Programme, it has since broadened to UKRN Open Research Programme partner institutions. Currently, contributors from the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, and Cardiff are reviewing these components against their own requirements, proving the feasibility of a shared, sector-level definition. Observing partners include Keele University, Newcastle University, University of Bristol, University of Leicester and the University of Wolverhampton. This participation demonstrates the appetite for a shared, sector-level definition, and is also proving the feasibility of the approach.
As the recent survey by the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) found, awareness of the FAIR Principles for digital research objects is still relatively low among researchers across all disciplines. Sheffield was therefore keen to participate in this project not only to help establish and implement shared definitions and benchmarks for FAIR for institutional repository content, but also, in turn, to use these baseline FAIR expectations to develop more standardised guidance for depositors across institutions that will help socialise and increase FAIR practices in the UK.
University of Sheffield
This FAIR compliant framework establishes a foundation for “FAIR-by-design” guidance, enabling institutional repositories to support researchers proactively rather than retrospectively. By adopting shared definitions, institutions ensure a consistent, transparent, and interoperable interpretation of FAIR. This alignment satisfies funder expectations and assists organizations in demonstrating robust data management practices for the upcoming UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2029).
The initial phase concludes this summer with an exemplar implementation of the FAIR compliance process in ORA, and a core component set for community adoption, to be described via a webinar. In the FIRM project, participation is tiered to accommodate varying institutional capacities: Contributors actively shape technical refinements, while Observers monitor progress for future implementation.
Cardiff is pleased to be a contributor to this project, identifying shared benchmarks that can further define what FAIR means for institutional repositories, which will in turn benefit both our individual organisation and the wider research data community across the UK.
Cardiff University
We invite additional UKRN ORP partner institutions to join this effort (check if your institution is an ORP partner here: www.ukrn.org/partner-institutions). For more information about the FAIR framework contact the FAIRsharing team at contact@fairsharing.org.