Building Open Access to Research (OAR) Data Infrastructure at NIST

Area of Science:

• Physical Science Domains
• Measurement Science
• Materials Science (crystallography, nanomaterials)
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics
• Disaster Resilience
• Cyberinfrastructure
• Communications
• Forensics

Background:

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a National Metrology Institute (NMI), conducts research across physical science domains.
• NIST's mission is to advance measurement science, standards, and technology to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness.
• NIST produces standard reference materials, calibration services, and datasets from complex laboratory instrumentation and expert analyses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a federated scientific data infrastructure aligned with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles.
• To provide a new scientific data discovery portal and public data repository for NIST research.
• To disseminate and provide public access to data across a broad spectrum of NIST research disciplines.

Main Methods:

• Development of a federated Open Access to Research (OAR) scientific data infrastructure.
• Implementation of FAIR data principles for enhanced data discoverability and accessibility.
• Creation of a public data repository for curated Standard Reference Data, legacy data, and new research data publications.

Main Results:

• A new scientific data discovery portal and public data repository have been released by NIST's Material Measurement Laboratory Office of Data and Informatics (ODI).
• The OAR infrastructure provides access to data from diverse fields including chemistry, biology, materials science, physics, and forensics.
• NIST's public data includes curated Standard Reference Data, valuable legacy data, and new research data publications.

Conclusions:

• The Open Access to Research (OAR) infrastructure is key to NIST's role in sharing high-integrity, reproducible research.
• This initiative supports NIST's mission in advancing measurement science in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
• Enhanced data sharing through OAR promotes collaboration and strengthens U.S. innovation and economic security.