TRUST.md
1 --- 2 title: "TRUST" 3 keywords: 4 - TRUST 5 - Transparency 6 - Responsibility 7 - UserFocus 8 - Sustainability 9 - Technology 10 - Principles 11 - Readme 12 - Layout 13 - Architecture 14 ... 15 20230630151846 16 17  18 19 ## Transparency 20 21 In order to select the most appropriate repository for a particular use case, all potential users benefit from being able to easily find and access information on the scope, target user community, policies, and capabilities of the data repository. Transparency in these areas offers an opportunity to learn about the repository and consider its suitability for users’ specific requirements, including data deposition, data preservation, and data discovery. To be compliant with this principle, repositories should ensure that, at a minimum, the mission statement and scope of the repository are clearly stated. In addition, the following aspects should be transparently declared: 22 23 * Terms of use, both for the repository and for the data holdings. 24 25 * Minimum digital preservation timeframe for the data holdings. 26 27 * Any pertinent additional features or services, for example the capacity to responsibly steward sensitive data. 28 29 30 Clearly communicating repository policies and, in particular, the terms of use for data holdings, informs users about any limitations that may restrict their use of the data or the repository. Likewise, being able to easily assess whether a repository can handle sensitive data in a responsible manner would also inform their decision on whether to utilize the available data services. 31 32  33 34 ## Responsibility 35 36 TRUSTworthy repositories take responsibility for the stewardship of their data holdings and for serving their user community. Responsibility is demonstrated by: 37 38 * Adhering to the designated community’s metadata and curation standards, along with providing stewardship of the data holdings e.g. technical validation, documentation, quality control, authenticity protection, and long-term persistence. 39 40 * Providing data services e.g. portal and machine interfaces, data download or server-side processing. 41 42 * Managing the intellectual property rights of data producers, the protection of sensitive information resources, and the security of the system and its content. 43 44 45 Repository users should have confidence that data depositors are prompted to provide all metadata compliant with the community norms, as this greatly enhances the discoverability and usefulness of the data. Knowing that a repository verifies the integrity of available data and metadata assures potential users that the data holdings are more likely to be interoperable with other relevant datasets. Both depositors and users must have confidence that the data will remain accessible over time, and thus can be cited and referenced in scholarly publications. 46 47 Responsibility may be clarified through some legal means (right to preserve) or may take the form of voluntary compliance with some norm (ethical standards). 48 49  50 51 ## User Focus 52 53 A TRUSTworthy repository needs to focus on serving its target user community. Each user community likely has differing expectations from their community repositories, depending in part on the community’s maturity regarding data management and sharing. A TRUSTworthy repository is embedded in its target user community’s data practices, and so can respond to evolving community requirements. We take a broad view of ‘user community’ as these could include users depositing or accessing data; those accessing data holdings computationally; and indirect stakeholders such as funders, journal editors, other institutional partners or citizens. 54 55 Use and reuse of research data is an integral part of the scientific process, and therefore TRUSTworthy repositories should enable their community to find, explore, and understand their data holdings with regard to potential (re)use. Repositories should encourage users to fully describe data at the time of deposition and facilitate feedback on any issues with the data (e.g. quality or fitness for use) that may become apparent after the data have been made available. 56 57 Repositories have a vital role in applying and enforcing the target user community norms and standards as compliance facilitates data interoperability and reusability. Data standards that TRUSTworthy repositories should enforce include metadata schema, data file formats, controlled vocabularies, ontologies, and other semantics where these exist in the user community. A TRUSTworthy repository may demonstrate adherence to this principle by: 58 59 * Implementing relevant data metrics and making these available to users. 60 61 * Providing (or contributing to) community catalogues to facilitate data discovery. 62 63 * Monitoring and identifying evolving community expectations and responding as required to meet these changing needs. 64 65  66 67 ## Sustainability 68 69 Ensuring sustainability of a TRUSTworthy repository is necessary to ensure uninterrupted access to its valuable data holdings for current and future user communities. Continued access to data is dependent upon the ability of the repository to provide services over time, and to respond with new or improved services to meet evolving user community requirements. 70 71 A TRUSTworthy repository may demonstrate the sustainability of its holdings by: 72 73 * Planning sufficiently for risk mitigation, business continuity, disaster recovery, and succession. 74 75 * Securing funding to enable ongoing usage and to maintain the desirable properties of the data resources that the repository has been entrusted with preserving and disseminating. 76 77 * Providing governance for necessary long-term preservation of data so that data resources remain discoverable, accessible, and usable in the future. 78 79  80 81 ## Technology 82 83 A repository depends on the interaction of people, processes, and technologies to support secure, persistent, and reliable services. Its activities and functions are supported by software, hardware, and technical services. Together, these provide the tools to enable the delivery of the TRUST Principles. 84 85 A TRUSTworthy repository may demonstrate the fitness of its technological capabilities by: 86 87 * Implementing relevant and appropriate standards, tools, and technologies for data management and curation. 88 89 * Having plans and mechanisms in place to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber or physical security threats. 90 91 