The Annotated Research Context

If you want to dive deep into the ARC take a look at arc-rdm.org! 💡

The concept of Fair Digital Objects (FDOs) is becoming central to data publication. Classical publications are beginning to reference FDOs as standalone data publications, enabling data to be shared independently of traditional articles. The FAIR Data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) outline how data packages should be structured to ensure they are useful for both humans and machines. FAIRness is a continuum that evolves and can be continuously improved. It is important to mention, since it is is often misunderstood, that the ‘A’ in FAIR does not necessarily mean ‘open’ or ‘free’, but rather that data should be accessible under exactly defined conditions.

The ARC (Annotated Research Context) is an implementation of the FDO concept. It is a framework for organizing and documenting research data, as well as a container that continuously supports collaboration, data exchange, and adherence to FAIR principles among various researchers. While being developed under the umbrella of DataPLANT for plant research, the ARC is applicable to many other research domains.

DataPLANT develops and maintains tools for the ARC ecosystem, hosts services to collaborate on ARCs, and provides training and support for ARC users.