DataPLANT contributes to the special issue of *Bausteine Forschungsdatenmanagement* on the topic “Research Data Management and Long-Term Archiving”

Wed Jan 07 2026

The open access journal Bausteine Forschungsdatenmanagement has published a special issue on the topic of research data management and long-term archiving. The contributions in this issue relate concepts and practices from the research data management and long-term archiving communities to one another and formulate questions, recommendations, and insights aimed at strengthening the integration of both fields. The NFDI and its consortia are relevant actors fostering the various developments both within their communities and overarching within the e.g. long-term archiving working group. The special issue is available under the following DOI; the editorial provides an overview of the contributions.

DataPLANT contributes the article “A software-centered approach to the long-term archiving of research data: Software preservation and emulation as safeguards for the long-term usability of data”. The article highlights the relevance of software for the use of research data, particularly when software is required for the creation and presentation of the data. In the context of long-term archiving, the long-term availability and usability of the software itself therefore pose a challenge. The authors recommend the structured collection of software relevant to research data, documentation of knowledge on its use, emulation solutions, and legally compliant procedures for proprietary software. They advocate addressing these issues within the NFDI.