Summary and Setup

FAIR Research Data Coursebook

Six Steps to FAIR Implementation

This coursebook introduces practical ways to apply FAIR research data principles through concrete data management and reuse tasks.

Keywords: Research Data Management, Research Data Reuse, FAIR, FAIR Digital Objects

FAIR Research Data Coursebook logo
FAIR Research Data Coursebook logo

This coursebook was last updated in January 2025.

About

Many FAIR training materials are theory-heavy and difficult to connect to daily research practice. This coursebook takes a more practical approach, with examples that researchers can use to understand and implement FAIR data work.

Topics addressed in the lesson include:

  • understanding research digital objects and persistent identifiers
  • exploring open tools for interoperability and sustainable reuse
  • learning how to create data terms of use and access protocols
  • comparing data description practices across research fields
  • understanding rich metadata and its role in long-term reuse

Lesson Focus

The coursebook is organized around six recurring FAIR data tasks:

  1. Set up your own terms
  2. Speak the same language
  3. Securely share
  4. Publish and preserve
  5. Make machines work for you
  6. Responsibly reuse

Six steps to FAIR

  1. Set up your own terms -> Set up your own terms
  2. Speak the same language -> Speak the same language
  3. Securely share -> Securely share
  4. Publish and preserve -> Publish and preserve
  5. Make machines work for you -> Make machines work for you
  6. Responsibly reuse -> Responsibly reuse

Start Here

Acknowledgements

These efforts were supported by SURF funding for strengthening the RDM landscape on Digital Competence Center and by Maastricht University Library.

The coursebook draws inspiration from the FAIR Teaching Handbook and from The Turing Way, with the goal of making FAIR implementation easier to understand through practical examples.

Cite This Coursebook

Hernandez Serrano, P. V., and Vivas Romero, M. (2022, August 8). FAIR Research Data Coursebook. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6974103

To follow the coursebook effectively, learners should prepare a small set of accounts and familiar tools before starting.

  • Create a GitHub account.
  • Review a short introduction to Markdown and GitHub Pages.
  • Create a DataverseNL account. If you are outside the Netherlands, use Harvard Dataverse.
  • Join the lesson Slack workspace if it is still being used for your delivery format.

Introductory Slides

The original introductory slides are still available here: