FAIR Data Principles
KMFRI’s Research Data Management Plan (RDMP) provides a comprehensive framework for managing scientific data from collection through long-term preservation. Aligned with the FAIR principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable – the plan ensures that KMFRI’s data assets remain valuable and accessible to the scientific community now and in the future.
FAIR Data Principles
Findable
Research data and metadata are assigned persistent identifiers (DOIs) and are indexed in searchable resources so that both humans and machines can discover them easily.
Accessible
Data are retrievable via open, standardised protocols. Where data cannot be fully open, metadata remains accessible and clearly documents access conditions.
Interoperable
Data use formal, widely accepted vocabularies and formats to enable integration with other datasets and tools across the marine and freshwater science community.
Reusable
Data are richly described with provenance information and released under clear licences, allowing future researchers to validate, combine, and build upon KMFRI’s findings.
Data Lifecycle Management
Planning & Collection
Data management plans are drafted at project inception, defining collection methods, formats, and responsibilities before fieldwork begins.
Processing & Analysis
Raw data are cleaned, QC-checked, and analysed using documented workflows to ensure reproducibility of scientific results.
Storage & Security
Data are stored on secured, backed-up institutional servers with role-based access control, protecting sensitive ecological and personal data.
Sharing & Preservation
Approved datasets are published via KMFRI’s DSpace institutional repository with accompanying metadata, ensuring long-term preservation and open discovery.
Key RDMP Components
Data Documentation Standards
Standardised metadata templates and field vocabularies aligned with international fisheries standards (FAO, OBIS).
Data Security & Privacy
Encryption, access logs, and GDPR-aligned privacy protocols for data containing personally identifiable information.
Roles & Responsibilities
Clearly defined data stewardship roles from Principal Investigator through to KMFRI’s institutional data managers.
Institutional Repository (DSpace)
KMFRI’s DSpace platform provides persistent, citeable access to published research datasets and related publications.
Research Data Types
Fisheries Data
Catch assessment surveys, stock abundance estimates, species composition records, and socio-economic fisheries data.
Oceanographic Data
CTD casts, current measurements, sea surface temperature, salinity profiles, and chlorophyll-a observations from research vessel surveys.
Aquaculture Data
Pond water quality time series, growth performance records, feed conversion ratios, and hatchery production statistics.
Spatial Data
GIS layers of fishing grounds, habitat maps, EEZ boundaries, mangrove extents, and satellite-derived environmental rasters.
KMFRI DSpace Repository
KMFRI research datasets are published and archived in the institutional DSpace repository. Researchers and the public can discover, cite, and request access to approved datasets via the repository portal. Visit the KMFRI DSpace Repository →