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Recommendation on Registering NFDI Repositories in re3data Now Published

· 2 min read
Oliver Koepler
Oliver Koepler
Spokesperson Section Metadata

The Taskforce Metadata of the NFDI Section Metadata, Terminologies, Provenance has published the draft of a recommendation for registering and curating NFDI research data repositories in re3data — the registry of research data repositories.

The recommendation document is now open for comments by the NFDI community and should be published as a NFDI standard in the future.

The recommendation addresses NFDI consortia and members who operate or are responsible for research data repositories. Its two central objectives are to increase the findability and visibility of NFDI-relevant repositories, and to ensure sustainable, quality-assured descriptions of those repositories within re3data, including up-to-date information on implemented metadata standards.

Beyond registration, NFDI repositories are to be labelled within re3data, supporting the long-term goal of establishing an NFDI-endorsed quality mark for trusted repositories. re3data is defined as the minimum standard for repository registration across NFDI; consortia remain free to additionally register in domain-specific or other relevant registries such as FAIRsharing.

The document was developed through a community consensus process within the Taskforce and the Section, drawing on discussions from both NFDI Metadata Workshops (Dresden 2025, Hannover 2025). It was endorsed by the Section on 31 March 2026 and published on Zenodo on 14 April 2026, opening a community comment phase open until 18 May 2026.

On the Path to an Official NFDI Standard​

The recommendation is explicitly designed to become a NFDI Standard. The process builds upon the current draft of Leitfaden zur Entwicklung von NFDI Standards and includes a structured governance roadmap: after the community comment phase closes in May, a revised draft will go to a vote by official Section members, followed by a presentation and vote at the Konsortialversammlung in. Final approval as an official NFDI Standard is targeted for autumn 2026 by the scientific senate.

Reference: Castro, L. J., Fliegl, H., Henzen, C., Löbe, M., Koepler, O., Neidiger, C., Söding, E., Trippel, T., Stervbo, U., & Wiljes, C. (2026). Empfehlung an die Konsortien und Mitglieder des Vereins Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) e.V. zum Nachweis von NFDI-Datenrepositorien in re3data. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19565419