The Annotated Research Context

The importance of RDM systems continues to grow as scientists and institutions increasingly generate large, diverse datasets. As FAIR Digital Objects (FDOs), ARCs play a crucial role in advancing the FAIRification of research data, particularly in fundamental plant research. ARCs are based on a simple folder structure, comprising studies, assays, workflows and runs, and are meant to package all research data with its associated metadata. ARCs are a practical implementation of existing standards encompassing the benefits of the ISA model, Common Workflow Language (CWL), and Research Object Crates (RO-Crate). Each ARC is assigned a persistent, unique identifier and contains in a standardized and encapsulated way not only raw data but also all associated information required to reproduce the research, including metadata, external files, and computational code. Anything from a single publication to large-scale, multi-lab, long-term projects can be packaged and published as an ARC.