FAIRsharing record for: FAIR Principles I3: (meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data

This FAIRsharing record describes: 'FAIR Principles I3: (meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data' is concerned with the placement of (meta)data within the broader context of the research data ecosystem; knowledge representing a resource is connected to that of other resources to create a meaningfully interlinked network of data and services. A “qualified reference” is a reference to another resource (i.e., referencing that external resource's persistent identifier), in which the nature of the relationship is also clearly specified. For instance, when multiple versions of a metadata file are available, it may be useful to provide links to prior or next versions using a named relation such as “prior version” or “next version” (using an appropriate community standard relationship that itself conforms to the FAIR principles). This principle therefore also relates to the good practice to clearly distinguish between metadata (files/containers) and the resources they describe. (Text modified from: see reference URL.)