Data Publishing Guidelines

June 30, 2026

These guidelines provide practical advice for researchers publishing data from their hub projects. It provides context on the importance of good practice in data management, with the ultimate aim of maximising the impact of project data. Making data FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable – is the key.

The guidance describes the process for researchers to follow and the repositories they should consider for publishing their data. The inclusion of Persistent Identifiers in metadata, particularly Research Activity Identifiers, embeds useful information on who produced the data, enabling better tracking of impact and ingest of metadata into more data catalogues for increased discoverability.

The aim of good data management – impact!

Managing and publishing data well are not just about compliance with funder requirements. When done well, they:

• Increase visibility and discoverability of your work
• Enable reuse and citation, extending impact beyond the project
• Support transparency and trust in climate science
• Make data easier to integrate into models, assessments, and decision-support tools
• Preserve datasets beyond the life of the project and the hub

Poorly published data (for example, unclear descriptions, missing metadata, or unstable hosting) may technically be “open” but are often unused.

Ultimately, the aim for all data you generate and publish is for it to be used by research users, industry practitioners, and policy makers. To make this a reality, the data needs to be both useful (i.e. serve a purpose) and useable (accessible and provided in a way that users can apply in their processes).