Background

A FAIR Implementation Profile (FIP) is a list of declared technology choices, also referred to as  FAIR Enabling Resources (FERs), that are intended to implement one or more of the FAIR Guiding Principles, made as a collective decision by the members of a particular community of practice. These guidelines provide a practical, “how to” overview for researchers and data stewards who wish to create a FIP using the FIP Wizard 4.0. For general background on the FIP, see Reusable FAIR Implementation Profiles as Accelerators of FAIR Convergence, in Grossmann G., Ram S. (eds) Advances in Conceptual Modeling. ER 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12584. Springer, Cham. DOI.

The FIP Wizard 4.0 tool is based on the same technology as the familiar Data Stewardship Wizard. Essentially, we have replaced the Knowledge Model that guides the creation of a data stewardship plan, with a Knowledge Model based on the FIP Questionnaire that guides the user in the creation of a FIP. We have also added the capability for the FIP Wizard 4.0 to use (consume and produce) nanopublications, allowing the various elements of the FIP to be captured in this highly modular, referenceable, machine-interpretable format. Making use of nanopublications and the FIP Ontology, the FIP Wizard 4.0 captures FIPs that are themselves, to a very high degree, FAIR.

Hence, this user guide is designed to complement the FIP-specific features of the Wizard environment. Details on more generic features of the Wizard (e.g., how to create, save, version projects) can be found in the DSW User Guide.

Why FIPs anyways?

  • A FIP can be compiled to declare both the current and the future use of FERs in a community.

  • A FIP can be compiled to declare specifically the current status of implementations within a community (called the AS-IS FIPs). This declaration can also sometimes be useful in guiding data stewards working in that community.

  • A FIP can be compiled to decide on the future use of FERs in a community (called the TO-BE FIPs). These FIPs can be used to document technology trends in FAIR.

  • It is likely that any given FIP will need periodic revision. In this case, each new version documents improvements in FAIR over time.

  • Any given FIP can be compared with FIPs from other communities giving insight on how FIPs might be optimized to ensure FAIR Convergence.

The FIP Wizard team is composed of Barbara Magagna, Marek Suchanek, Tobias Kuhn, and Erik Schultes. We wish you success in composing your FIP. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions on how to improve the FIP Wizard experience, please contact us: fipadmin@gofair.foundation.