Frontiers launches AI-powered data management platform to address scientific data loss crisis
Open-science publisher Frontiers has launched FAIR² Data Management, an integrated platform designed to address the significant challenge of scientific data loss and underutilisation. The service combines artificial intelligence with established data management protocols to streamline how research data is stored, shared, and reused across scientific disciplines.
According to figures released by Frontiers, approximately 80 per cent of datasets generated remain confined to originating laboratories, whilst only around 10 per cent of shared data meets FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) standards. This inefficiency has implications for reproducibility across multiple research domains, including oncology, climate science, and biomedical research.
Integrated workflow addresses multiple compliance requirements
The platform incorporates several key functions within a single system: data curation, compliance verification, AI-compatible formatting, peer review processes, interactive data visualisation, certification, and permanent hosting infrastructure. Researchers submitting datasets receive four standardised outputs – a certified Data Package, a peer-reviewed Data Article, an Interactive Data Portal with AI chat functionality, and a FAIR² Certificate.
Dr Kamila Markram, co-founder and CEO of Frontiers, said: “Ninety percent of science vanishes into the void. With Frontiers FAIR² Data Management, no dataset and no discovery need ever be lost again – every contribution can now fuel progress, earn the credit it deserves, and unleash science.”
AI automation reduces curation timeline
The platform’s AI Data Steward, developed by Senscience – a Frontiers venture – automates processes that traditionally required months of manual work, including metadata creation, compliance checking, and dataset curation. This automation aims to reduce the technical burden on researchers whilst main-
taining standardisation across datasets.
Pilot datasets span multiple research domains
Four pilot datasets demonstrate the platform’s applications across varied research areas. These include 3,800 SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variants with structural predictions and binding data relevant to pandemic preparedness, 343 harmonised diffusion MRI scans from traumatic brain injury studies across four research centres, environmental pressure indicators tracking emissions and demographic data across 43 countries from 1990 to 2050, and biodiversity records from 280 Indo-Pacific atolls integrating habitat, climate, and human-use data.
Dr Neil Harris, professor at UCLA’s Brain Injury Research Center, commented: “Implementation of [Frontiers] FAIR² can provide an objective check on data for both missingness and quality that is useful on so many levels. These types of unbiased assessments and data summaries can aid understanding by non-domain experts to ultimately enhance data sharing.”
Dr Sean Hill, co-founder and CEO of Senscience, noted: “Science invests billions generating data, but most of it is lost – and researchers rarely get credit. With Frontiers FAIR², every dataset is cited, every scientist recognised – finally rewarding the essential work of data creation.”
The FAIR² Open Specification extends existing FAIR principles to ensure datasets meet requirements for machine-readable formats, addressing the growing role of artificial intelligence in research discovery and synthesis.
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