Beyond FAIR: Reusing Chemical Data Across Disciplines#

Authors#

Jan Theunis, Iseult Lynch, Anjana Elapavalore, Hiba Mohammed Taha, Jeremy Frey, Fatima Mustafa, Felix Bach, Christian Bonatto Minella, Leah McEwen

Abstract#

Emphasising the need for FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data to address persistent issues with environmental contaminants, healthcare, and biodiversity, this work discusses reuse of Chemical data across disciplines and the role of various data initiatives and projects including PARC, NORMAN-SLE, MassBank, WorldFAIR, PSDI and NFDI4Chem to facilitate increased data sharing. Improved machine-readable chemical data supports global research and interdisciplinary methodologies crucial for sustainable development and UNESCO’s Open Science priorities and the UN Sustainability Development Goals. Examples of success include integrating toxicology and chemical exposure data using ontologies, linking NORMAN-SLE and MassBank with PubChem, and developing an IUPAC International Chemicals Identifier (InChI) extension for nanomaterials. Efforts in the UK and Germany focus on digitising and standardising chemical research data, aiding scientists in data collection, storage, processing, analysis, disclosure, and reuse. These global initiatives aim to enhance chemical data interoperability to solve real-world problems, foster collaboration, and promote innovation while considering sustainable data resources beyond individual projects.