Action Plan Towards FAIR Implementation in the Dutch Social Sciences and Humanities

Over the past years, many research infrastructures, research performing organisations (RPOs), and funders have expressed their commitment to the FAIR principles. - i.e., ensuring that digital research objects (such as data, software, training materials) are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Yet, implementing the FAIR principles remains a significant challenge across the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the Netherlands, leaving a gap between the ambitions as outlined in policies and guidelines, and actual practices. This is due to a combination of technical/infrastructural constraints (for example, unavailability of semantic resources for meaningful data annotation for interoperability) and organisational aspects (such as insufficient recognition for time investment into making data FAIR, lack of a clear organisational structure that sustains FAIR data generation). The Action Plan towards FAIR Implementation in the SSH addresses these challenges with a focus on the practical realities. Its purpose is twofold: first, to provide a clear overview of the key bottlenecks that stand in the way of effective FAIR implementation. Second, to propose concrete and actionable steps that stakeholders can take to move forward and reduce the gap between FAIR ambitions and practices. While many reports and roadmaps already exist, this Action Plan is unique in its focus on the practical realities of those working with RDM and FAIR in the SSH: the data stewards, repository managers, infrastructure providers, researchers, and policy officers who navigate the FAIR data principles in their daily work.

Citation

Maineri, A. M. ... Plomp, E., et al. (2026). Action Plan Towards FAIR Implementation in the Dutch Social Sciences and Humanities. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19128135

Sponsorship

Dutch Research Council. Untangling FAIR implementation in the Dutch SSH ICT.TDCC.001.003

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1993

DOI

10.5281/zenodo.19128135