[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37033-37035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11916]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


NIST's Research Data Framework

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
seeks comments on NIST's Research Data Framework (RDaF or Framework). 
The RDaF is a tool that aims to help shape the future of open data 
access and research data management. A broader range of stakeholder 
views is needed for refining the next version of the RDaF. The current 
draft of the RDaF is available electronically from the NIST website at: 
https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.1500-18r1. All individuals and 
organizations with influence on and who are influenced by research data 
management are encouraged to offer their input.

DATES: 
    For Comments:
    Comments must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern time on July 6, 2023. 
Written comments should be submitted according to the instructions in 
the ADDRESSES and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION sections below. Submissions 
received after that date may not be considered.

ADDRESSES: Comments can be submitted by either of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``Research Data Framework'' 
in the subject line of the message.
    Instructions: Attachments will be accepted in plain text, Microsoft 
Word, or Adobe PDF formats. Comments containing references, studies, 
research, and other empirical data that are not widely published should 
include copies or electronic links of the referenced materials.
    All submissions, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, will become part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure.

[[Page 37034]]

NIST reserves the right to publish comments publicly, unedited and in 
their entirety. Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers 
or Social Security numbers, or names of other individuals, should not 
be included. Submissions will not be edited to remove any identifying 
or contact information. Do not submit confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. Comments 
that contain profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate 
language or content will not be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alda Yuan, Physical Scientist, Office 
of Data and Informatics, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, 301-975-2451, or 
by email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    NIST is leading the development of a Research Data Framework (RDaF 
or Framework) with involvement and input from national and 
international leaders in the broad research data stakeholder community. 
Research data is defined here as ``the recorded factual material 
commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate 
research findings.'' \1\ The RDaF offers a map of the research data 
space, taking a lifecycle approach to organize research data-related 
activities and concepts. Through a community-driven process, NIST 
identified organizational and individual needs and activities tied to 
research data management. NIST's goal is that all elements of the 
research data lifecycle will be defined and explained to allow for 
self-assessments by stakeholders, and that informative references will 
provide best practices, standards, and applicable research for research 
data management and dissemination. The RDaF includes sample 
``profiles'' that incorporate those research data management activities 
associated with a given job function or role. Individual researchers 
and organizations involved in the research data lifecycle will be able 
to tailor these profiles to suit their unique needs.
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    \1\ 2 CFR 200.315(e)(3).
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    The overarching goal of the RDaF is to provide stakeholders with a 
structured approach to develop a customizable strategy for the 
management of research data. The audience for the RDaF is the entire 
research data community, including all organizations and individuals 
engaged in any activities concerned with research data management, from 
Chief Executive Officers and Chief Data Officers to librarians and 
researchers.
    The RDaF is driven by the research data stakeholder community who 
can use the framework for multiple purposes, from identifying best 
practices for research data management and dissemination to changing 
the research data culture in an organization. To ensure that the RDaF 
is a consensus document, NIST has held community engagement workshops 
as the primary mechanism to gather stakeholder input on refinements to 
the preliminary framework published in February 2021. Thus far, the 
workshops have taken place in three phases, each resulting in further 
examination and refinement of the topics and subtopics in the six 
lifecycle stages that form the Framework Core.
    Further refinement of the RDaF Core requires feedback from a 
broader range of potential adopters including researchers in diverse 
settings. NIST aims to create a flexible and modular system and the 
RDaF should be able to accommodate many types of research data and 
research tools. To this end, NIST seeks feedback on both the scope and 
completeness of the RDaF Core. Respondents are encouraged--but are not 
required--to respond to each of the questions below which are relevant 
to their role and their position within the research data management 
ecosystem. The questions are organized into categories covering the 
content of the six RDaF lifecycle stages, the topics and subtopics 
nested within these stages, definitions, informative resources, 
overarching themes, and customizable profiles, which are subsets of the 
more than 330 stages/topics/subtopics. Civic participation and 
evidence-based policy making require access to research data. The RDaF 
will provide government agencies, public and private institutions, as 
well as individual citizens, with the tools and knowledge necessary to 
share high-quality, reproducible data more easily, equitably, and 
safely.

II. Request for Comments

    All responses that comply with the requirements listed in the DATES 
and ADDRESSES sections of this notice will be considered. Respondents 
may organize their submissions in response to this notice in any 
manner.
    While NIST has reached a certain level of completeness as a result 
of extensive stakeholder engagement, this notice seeks feedback from a 
broader group of users, including the general public. The NIST team 
will carefully consider all feedback obtained through this notice in 
generating version 2.0 of the RDaF. However, the following questions 
reflect particular areas where the team would appreciate stakeholder 
perspective. When providing feedback addressing these specific 
questions, you may reference the question code to assist with 
consideration of your comment.
    NIST is interested in receiving responses to the following 
questions from the stakeholder community:

Section 1--Completeness and Coverage of the RDaF

    1.1 Are the lifecycle stages and the topics comprehensive? Are any 
topics missing?
    1.2 Are the subtopics comprehensive? Are any subtopics missing?
    1.3 Are the overarching themes comprehensive? Are any missing?
    1.4 Is the concept of using profiles for implementing the RDaF 
clear? Is it useful?
    1.5 Of the eight generic profiles offered, is there at least one 
similar to your job function? Are there any additional ones you would 
suggest?
    1.5 Are the informative references comprehensive? Are any resources 
missing?
    1.6 What additional organizations would you add to the key 
organizations in Appendix D?

Section 2--RDaF Content

    2.1 Are the definitions offered for the topics clear, correct, and 
comprehensive?
    2.2 Are the definitions offered for the subtopics clear, correct, 
and comprehensive?
    2.3 Do the generic profiles for which you have personal knowledge 
typically cover the most relevant topics and subtopics for that role?
    2.4 Are the informative references well-tailored to the topics and 
subtopics? Do they enable users to fully explore those topics and 
subtopics in greater depth?
    2.5 Would a glossary with definitions of granular terms such as 
``tools'' be helpful or redundant with the existing subtopic and topic 
definitions?
    2.6 Does the lifecycle stage graphic (Fig. 1) convey that the 
various stages are networked and cyclical rather than sequential and 
linear?

Section 3--Usage of the RDaF

    3.1 How do you envision using the Framework?
    3.2 Taking one of the generic profiles as a guide, how easy would 
it be for you to create a customized profile?

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    3.3 Do you envision using the RDaF as a guide for your individual 
role or as an organizational evaluation tool? What additional tools 
would assist in either effort?
    3.4 Would you find a network graph tool that allows free 
exploration of the relationships among the various elements (e.g., 
topics, subtopics, and profiles) of the framework useful?

(Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272(b) & (c))

Alicia Chambers,
NIST Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023-11916 Filed 6-5-23; 8:45 am]
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