FAIR in Practice: Updated Overview of the Implementation of the FAIR Principles with RADAR

The FAIR principles — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable — are now a key benchmark for handling research data. At the same time, many researchers are still asking: How can these principles be implemented in practice?

To add some clarity here, we’ve published an updated and expanded overview of how the FAIR principles are implemented in RADAR:

The overview provides a structured, principle-based presentation of how RADAR supports FAIR data publication. Each FAIR principle is linked to specific functions and features of RADAR—from persistent identifiers and rich metadata to standardized access protocols and long-term availability. This makes it clear how FAIR requirements can be practically implemented with RADAR.

A recent award demonstrates that this approach is not only conceptually sound but also effective in practical research: 

A dataset published via RADAR4Chem by Johannes Schenk (Friedrich Schiller University of Jena), titled “Inducing Hard Carbon-like Sodium Storage Behavior in Graphitizable Carbon via Post-Synthetic Introduction of Closed Porosity” (DOI: 10.22000/wzkv93yajesb20mx), is among the winners of the FAIR4Chem Award 2026 and also achieves a very high FUJI score of 92%, which quantitatively underscores the implementation of the FAIR principles.

RADAR4Chem builds on the FAIR functionalities embedded in RADAR, enabling easy and sustainable publication of chemical research data. The award underscores that FAIR data publication can be efficiently integrated into everyday research with the right infrastructure.

To provide concrete support to researchers in the 4Chem community, we have also updated the RADAR4Chem Quickstart Guide (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19052407, German). In addition to practical instructions on data publication, the new version includes additional sections on the use of standardised terminologies. These form an important foundation for interoperability and reusability and are now explained in detail in the guide.

Through our efforts, we aim to make FAIR data publication not only possible, but also understandable, efficient, and sustainable.

We congratulate the winners of the FAIR4Chem Award 2026 and look forward to supporting the community on its journey toward FAIR and open research data.