FAIR & CARE principles

Commitment to ethical and responsible data management

The integration of the CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) (Carroll et al. 2020, 2021) and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles within IsoArcH (Plomp et al. 2022), underscores the IsoArcH initiative’s commitment to fostering an equitable, transparent, and collaborative environment in isotope bioarchaeology. These principles serve as foundational pillars, addressing both the ethical and technical aspects essential for responsible data management. The implementation of both CARE and FAIR principles is important to our field as bioarchaeological samples are non-renewable and isotope analyses are destructive. It is of utmost importance to optimise their value and use by the wider research community (Plomp et al. 2022).

The IsoArcH initiative supports the CARE principles and their supporting concepts (Plomp et al. 2022). The IsoArcH database stores a wide range of sensitive data, including biological information of archaeological human remains, which must be handled with the utmost dignity and care. To achieve equitable research outcomes, it is important that data submitted to the IsoArcH database come from research works compliant with local governance processes and collected in an ethical manner (Ethics), and that the creation and reuse of data reflect people’s values (Collective benefit). Relevant parties must have control over the data processes. When data provenance or data sharing permissions are unclear, the submission to the IsoArcH database may be put on hold until clarification is provided, or even denied (Authority to control). The isotope bioarchaeology community has a responsibility to nurture relationships with communities and populations from whom the data originates and must maximise benefits while minimising harm and promoting justice (Responsibility).

Implementing the FAIR principles

In parallel, IsoArcH’s adoption of FAIR practices ensures that datasets are readily discoverable and compatible within the IsoArcH database. Through the assignment of persistent identifiers (Findable) and a standardised metadata model set up with input from the IsoArcH community (Findable, Interoperable), IsoArcH facilitates seamless data integration and exchange, enabling researchers to address more complex research questions. The data that is available open access is licenced under the BY-SA 4.0 International Creative Commons licence to allow reuse (Reusable). A restricted access option in line with the CARE principles will be available (Accessible).

Through a collective effort to uphold the CARE and FAIR principles, IsoArcH exemplifies a model of best practices in data stewardship, paving the way for a more equitable and collaborative research culture in isotope bioarchaeology.