Frequently Asked Questions

The Office of Science (SC) Public Reusable Research (PuRe) Data Resources are leading data resources in the DOE community. Below are answers to some commonly asked questions.

What is a PuRe Data Resource?

PuRe Data Resources are data repositories, knowledge bases, and analysis platforms that are sponsored by the Office of Science. These resources aim to make data reusable and publicly available in order to advance scientific and technical knowledge. In order to be designated as a PuRe Data Resource, the resource must meet the following requirements:

  • Be supported by an SC research program office
  • Be considered to be an authoritative provider of data or capabilities in its subject area
  • Be publicly available with the appropriate use of DOIs
  • Undergo a regular peer review process to review the management, operations, and scientific impact of the data resource.
  • Have an extensive data management plan which accounts for the long-term preservation and stewardship of the data.

What are the desirable characteristics of an SC PuRe Data Resource?

In order to be designated as an SC PuRe Data Resource, the repository, knowledge base, or analysis platform meets or strives towards the following characteristics:

  • Plan for long term sustainability
  • Provide clear user guidance
  • Assign and use DOIs to facilitate discovery, reuse, and citation of data and software
  • Provide metadata to accompany data
  • Provide mechanisms for curation and quality assurance
  • Offers public access to data and resources
  • Tracks provenance

Are SC PuRe Data Resources FAIR?

The FAIR data principles specify that data should be:

Findable:
  • (meta)data are assigned a globally unique and eternally persistent identifier
  • data are described with rich metadata
  • (meta)data are registered or indexed in a searchable resource
  • metadata specify the data identifier
Accessible:
  • (meta)data are retrievable by their identifier using a standardized communications protocol
    • the protocol is open, free, and universally implementable
    • the protocol allows for an authentication and authorization procedure, where necessary
  • metadata are accessible, even when the data are no longer available
Interoperable:
  • (meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation
  • (meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles
  • (meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data
Re-usable:
  • meta(data) have a plurality of accurate and relevant attributes
    • (meta)data are released with a clear and accessible data usage license
    • (meta)data are associated with their provenance
    • (meta)data meet domain-relevant community standards

SC PuRe Data Resources are striving to implement the facets of FAIRness described in the FAIR Data Principles. However, a data resource does not need to meet all FAIR data principles to be designated an SC PuRe Data Resource. Additionally, due to various limitations (community practices, funding, sustainability), not all resources are expected to be able to implement every facet of the FAIR Data Principle. We take those limitations into consideration when determining if a data resource should be designated as an SC PuRe Data Resource.

Who can I contact for more information regarding the Office of Science PuRe Data Resources?

You can either contact the Resource directly or contact the listed Office of Science program office for more information.