Frontiers introduces FAIR² Data Management
Frontiers is launching a FAIR² Data Management Pilot, which it hails as a “first-of-its-kind peer-reviewed service” to helps researchers get credited and cited for their work while making data AI-ready, reusable, and impactful.
Launched to coincide with Open Data Day 2025, FAIR² Data Management is aimed at using AI-assisted curation to structure research data for publication, making it easier to find, reuse, and analyse – both by humans and machines – so researchers can focus on discovery rather than data preparation.
Frontiers says that, by making datasets shareable and optimised for reuse, the scheme enhances research efficiency and reproducibility, accelerating breakthroughs in global health, planetary sustainability, and scientific innovation. The publisher states: “Billions of dollars in research value are lost annually because most scientific data remain difficult to find, access, and reuse. Fragmented formats, missing details, and technical barriers slow both human and AI-driven analysis.
“Researchers waste valuable time cleaning data instead of making discoveries and rarely receive credit for the data they generate. Meanwhile, funders are increasingly demanding that researchers publish their data, but they lack the tools to comply and remain unrewarded. Without scalable solutions, vast pools of knowledge remain locked away, stalling scientific progress.”
Sean Hill, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Senscience, the Frontiers AI venture powering FAIR² Data Management, said: “For too long, researchers have lacked the tools and incentives to share their data, leaving untold amounts of valuable research lost— data that could drive breakthroughs, accelerate innovation, and improve research quality worldwide. Our AI-powered data steward makes data curation easier and more rewarding, helping publishers like Frontiers provide researchers with a powerful way to share their data, gain recognition, and ensure it remains accessible, reusable, and ready to fuel future discoveries.”
Researchers using the scheme will benefit from an AI-assisted workflow that streamlines data preparation and sharing, turning their datasets into a FAIR² Data Package, an interactive exploration portal, and a peer-reviewed FAIR² Data Article in a Frontiers journal – with the aim of maximising visibility, recognition, and citations.
Dr. Kamila Markram, Co-Founder and CEO of Frontiers, said: “The global challenges we face demand better science – powered by better data. It’s not enough for data to be open; it must be well-organised, reusable, and impactful. FAIR² Data Management transforms data into a tool for discovery, tackling pressing challenges in global health, sustainability, and beyond.”
For years, the FAIR principles have provided a foundation for research data sharing. However, as machine learning and AI become an increasingly important tool in scientific research, data must be structured for both humans and machines. FAIR² (FAIR Squared) extends the FAIR principles by defining a formal specification that makes research data AI-ready, aligned with Responsible AI principles, and structured for deep scientific reuse.
Professor Barend Mons, senior author of the FAIR principles paper and founding director of the Leiden Institute for FAIR and Equitable Science (LIFES), emphasised the need for structured, well-governed data: “Open science must move beyond principles to implementation, structure, and governance. FAIR² provides the framework for AI-ready, context-rich, and responsibly governed data, ensuring informed reuse. FAIR² Data Management puts this into practice, helping researchers create a scalable ecosystem of Fully AI Ready, machine-actionable data.”
The first peer-reviewed FAIR² Data Article and FAIR² Data Portal, published today, showcase AI-driven data curation in action. Led by Dr. Ángel Borja of AZTI Foundation (Spain), the dataset – spanning nearly three decades of marine biodiversity monitoring in the Basque Country, managed by the Basque Water Agency (URA) – has been curated using FAIR², transforming long-term environmental data into an AI-ready resource.
Frontiers is inviting researchers to join the limited-time pilot – apply here.
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