FAIRsharing record for: FAIR Metric – F1 – Metadata - Identifier is persistent

This FAIRsharing record describes: ### What is being measured?

This metric evaluates whether the identifier provided as input satisfies the EOSC-PID aligned FAIRsharing definition of persistence.

### Why should we measure it?

F1 requires that metadata be assigned a globally unique, persistent and resolvable identifier. This metric is particularly concerned with the persistence aspect of GUPRIs; persistence is required to guarantee long-term continuity of reference. Without persistence, identifiers may break, change or be reassigned, undermining citation, traceability and reproducibility.
In this metric, the definition of persistence follows the FAIRsharing guidance on Globally Unique, Persistent and Resolvable Identifier (GUPRI) schemas. This definition requires that the identifier schema must have clear community backing for the schema and its long-term maintenance. The syntax of the schema must be stable, and the referred object should itself should also be stable, though there are various ways to show this (e.g., a dataset might be completely immutable, while a record describing an organisation is likely to change as the organisations homepage, name or other attributes change).
This metric evaluates whether the identifier provided as input is issued under a schema that meets the FAIRsharing definition of persistence. The evaluation assesses whether the identifier schema demonstrates documented long-term maintenance and governance consistent with these criteria.

### Comments

For an in-depth understanding of the issues around identifiers, please see http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001414.