On the long-term archiving of research data

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges and considerations of long-term data archiving, emphasizing sustainability, FAIR principles, and responsibilities in cold data storage for research data preservation.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for managing cold data storage that balances FAIR principles with sustainability and clarifies roles in long-term research data preservation.

Findings

Proposes criteria for when to dispose of research data.

Highlights the ecological and monetary costs of data repositories.

Suggests responsibilities for cold data archiving.

Abstract

Accessing research data at any time is what FAIR (Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable) data sharing aims to achieve at scale. Yet, we argue that it is not sustainable to keep accumulating and maintaining all datasets for rapid access, considering the monetary and ecological cost of maintaining repositories. Here, we address the issue of cold data storage: when to dispose of data for offline storage, how can this be done while maintaining FAIR principles and who should be responsible for cold archiving and long-term preservation.