Introducing FJORD: Orchestrating Research Data Management through Enhanced FAIRness

Abstract

The burgeoning landscape of research data needs increasingly sophisticated yet integrated approaches to data management. Data Management Plans (DMPs) have become a cornerstone of good practice, but their full potential for fostering FAIR principles remains constrained by fragmented systems and a lack of overarching orchestration. This paper introduces the FAIRly Jointed Open Research Data (FJORD) framework, a conceptual evolution of DMPs designed to seamlessly integrate and orchestrate various components of the research ecosystem at an institutional level. Current Research Information Systems can incorporate FJORD as an agent-based approach operating at a metadata level, enabling holistic management from the initial project proposal stages to the final dissemination of research results. By enhancing DMPs into supplementary management tools and leveraging a project preregistration platform, FJORD allows for the managing, monitoring and tracking of intellectual assets through navigable knowledge graphs, aiding researchers throughout the research life cycle across multiple university systems. The framework is designed to export these research activity results as machine-actionable DMPs compatible with Research Data Alliance requirements and existing DMP tools, such as DMPonline. By providing a unified layer for metadata management and system interoperability, FJORD significantly enhances the tracking and assessment of FAIRness, streamlines institutional administrative burdens, and ultimately accelerates the pace of scientific discovery, while maintaining sovereignty of managing and reusing research information. This paper details the core tenets of the FJORD framework, its architectural design, and its potential impact on institutional research data strategies and governance.