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FAIR Data Publication Services for Disciplinary Support: RADAR in the German NFDI Context

Soltau, Kerstin; Bach, Felix; Hofmann, Stefan; Göller, Sandra

Publisher
Zenodo
DOI
10.5281/zenodo.17565968
Repository
zenodo.org
Language
en

Abstract

RADAR is a reliable, standards-compliant repository for the archiving and publication of research data, developed and operated by FIZ Karlsruhe - Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure. Originally conceived as a generic infrastructure for secure long-term preservation and FAIR data sharing, RADAR has evolved into a flexible service platform that can be tailored to the specific needs of diverse scientific disciplines. This adaptability is demonstrated by RADAR’s adoption and further development within Germany’s National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). In collaboration with domain-specific NFDI consortia, three community-driven services have already been realised: RADAR4Chem, a core repository of the NFDI4Chem consortium, supports data publication across all chemical disciplines. It enables integration with electronic lab notebooks, data management planning tools, and standardised metadata profiles. RADAR4Culture, implemented in cooperation with NFDI4Culture, serves the cultural heritage domain. It accommodates heterogeneous data types and interdisciplinary research outputs, reflecting the complex requirements of this field. RADAR4Memory developed together with NFDI4Memory, is tailored to historically working humanities. It supports provenance-aware workflows, contextual metadata, and ethical standards. All three services build on RADAR’s robust and extensible technical infrastructure. A key strength of the platform is its interoperability via a standards-compliant REST API, as well as the ability to define discipline-specific metadata schemas. In addition, RADAR is progressively integrating foundational services developed by the national Base4NFDI consortium, e.g.: TS4NFDI for the integration of curated terminologies and ontologies, IAM4NFDI for secure, federated authentication and authorisation, and DMP4NFDI to support structured data management planning through interfaces with tools such as RDMO. These cross-cutting integrations enhance semantic interoperability, reduce metadata redundancy, and enable trustworthy, standards-compliant research data management across disciplinary boundaries. RADAR is open to data providers from publicly funded universities, colleges, research institutions, museums, libraries, archives and memorials in Germany, the EU, the UK, and Switzerland. As a generic and extensible infrastructure with a proven track record in multiple NFDI domains, RADAR represents a sustainable model for community-driven, FAIR-compliant data publication that can inspire similar developments across national and international research data initiatives. Looking ahead, RADAR is open to further collaborations with national and European research communities seeking reliable, customisable solutions for data publication and preservation. Our poster uses the example of RADAR to illustrate how domain-specific data publication services can be sustainably realized through a modular infrastructure embedded in national data strategies and offer added value for research communities and funders alike.

Full text

RADAR •Reliable, standards-compliant repository for archiving and FAIR publication of research data •Multidisciplinary repository for academic institutions in Europe NFDI •National Research Data Infrastructure, launched in 2020 in Germany •Establishes a comprehensive and sustainable RDM infrastructure •Disciplines are organised in consortia •Mandated member in the EOSC and candidate node in the EOSC Federation Base4NFDI •NFDI-wide Basic Services for the NFDI and outside NFDI •Improvement of efficiency and seamless use of research data management offerings RADAR in the NFDI •Flexible service platform for various NFDI consortia •Tailored to the specific needs of scientific communities •Interoperable with many tools and NFDI Basic Services OAI-Provider •In-house development (open source) •High-performance metadata harvesting (OAI-PMH incl. support of sets) by EUDAT / B2Find (2020) by BASE (2023) RADAR Cloud •Generic research data repository („All-in-One-Cloud“) •Target groups: publicly funded research institutions and universities in EU, UK, CH •FIZ Karlsruhe: provider, contract partner, development, operation •KIT and TUD: data storage (3 tape copies , 1 disk copy) •TIB: DOI registration (DataCite) •Interoperability via RADAR REST API RADAR Core Features: Archiving : • Secure storage without publication • Flexible retention period (5, 10, 15 years) • Flexible access management Publishing: • Secure storage with publication (DataCite DOI) • Unlimited retention period (at least 25 years) • Optional embargos (also unlimited) • Metadata indexing (RADAR, DataCite, Harvesting via OAI-PMH) Peer Review: • Secure link for reviewers FAIR Data Publication Services for Disciplinary Support: RADAR in the German NFDI Context A Flexible FAIR Research Data Repository Update of RADAR Metadata Schema (v 9.1) •Integration of further standard data: ROR, Integrated Authority File (GND) •Integration of further licenses for research data and software Subject Specific Metadata •Management of custom metadata schemas (XML or JSON) in RADAR backend •RADAR-compliant schema or XSLT transformation DFG Project Phase •Interdisciplinary project team •Goal: development of a cross-disciplinary research data repository for specific scientific fields ("long-tail") Publication Services for Scientific Communities •Developed in the context of our participation in the NFDI •Target group: researchers from the subject communities of chemistry, cultural studies and history •Complement the portfolio of subject repositories •2022: RADAR4Chem, RADAR4Culture •2025: RADAR4Memory Contact [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.radar-service.eu Licensed under CC-BY 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (November 2025) 2019 OAIProvider 2021 RADAR Local RADAR Local as Alternative Operating Variant •For institutions that want to have RADAR operated by FIZ Karlsruhe as a local instance under their own domain and on their own IT-infrastructure 2013-2016 DFGProjektphase 2017 RADAR Cloud 2021 Subject Specific Metadata FAIR Signposting •Typed links in HTTP link header of RADAR dataset landing pages •Improves machine readability and actionability as important part of the Fair Digital Object (FDO) framework AI-Support for Metadata Annotation (explorative works) •Operation of a self hosted AI infrastructure containing Fair-Way Service and RADAR Keyword Service •AI-assisted metadata enrichment, enabling e. g. the automatic extraction of metadata like relevant keywords •AI-assisted FAIRness checks, offering feedback and suggestions to improve the FAIRness of datasets Schema.org Ontology | Knowledge Graph | SPARQL Endpoint •Optimization of Schema.org ontology compliance improves discoverability and interpretability of RADAR data publications by web search engines, e. g. Google Dataset Search •Linked Open Data (LOD) approach by using JSON-LD and Turtle serialization •Daily creation of RADAR knowledge graphs based on Schema.org vocabulary •Support of a RADAR SPARQL Endpoint for standardized querying of the knowledge graphs 2022 Update of RADAR Metadata Schema 2025 AI-Support 10.25504/FAIRsharing.601a27 10.25504/FAIRsharing.3b3157 10.25504/FAIRsharing.0db6d6 since 2022 Publication Services for Scientific Communities 2024/25 WebDAV Support --- GitLab/GitHub Import FAIRness Assessment Challenge •Participation in support measure of the EU project FAIR-IMPACT •Significant increase of FUJI score as indicator for the FAIRness of a data publication (up to 91%) 2025 More Data Access Options More Data Access Options (in Progress) •Selective streaming of individual files and folders from packed .tar-archive (BagIt standard) •.zip download of dataset content for reviewers before publication •Additional disk copy for flexible access •Automatic RO-Crate metadata generation for each dataset 2013-2016 DFG Project Phase Download Poster WebDAV Support •Convenient import of research data (files and folders) •Maximum flexibility for organizing dataset content, even with larger data volumes •Supported by numerous WebDAV clients (e. g. WinSCP) and operating systems GitLab / GitHub Import •Direct import of GitLab / GitHub content from public and private repositories •Import of standard branch or individual branches •Ensures long-term availability of software versions and projects •Specific versions of a GitLab / GitHub repository can be clearly referenced and cited using DOIs 10.25504/FAIRsharing.f64bbe 2025 Integration of NFDI Basic Services Integration of Terminology Services 4 NFDI •Integration of standardized terminologies in metadata field “Keywords” via NFDI Basic Service TS4NFDI •Promotes interpretability, findability, and integration of research data into knowledge graphs and semantic infrastructures •Update of RADAR Metadata Schema (v 9.2) Integration into Knowledge Graph Infrastructure 4 NFDI •Integration of RADAR Knowledge Graph into central KGI Registry •Query option via central, public SPARQL Endpoint Integration of More NFDI Basic Services •IAM4NFDI (Identity and Access management) to support single-sign-on and workflow management •DMP4NDI (Data Management Plans) to support metadata transfer •…and more. 2026 Integration of More NFDI Basic Services 2025 Statewide Research Data Portal 2022/23 FAIRness & Machine Actionability Enhanced 2023 Schema.org Knowledge Graph SPARQL Endpoint Statewide Research Data Portal in Brandenburg •Central provision of IT services and RDM services •University of Potsdam: provider of statewide research data portal, contractual partner for partner universities •Partner universities: own RADAR environment and workflows