CoreTrustSeal Certification – the CSD as a Trustworthy Data Repository
As you may know, the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) is a data repository for organic and metalorganic crystal structures containing over 1.25 million published datasets which are curated, published and preserved for the benefit of the scientific community. However, you may be less familiar with the efforts recently undertaken here at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) towards making sure that the CSD is deemed a Trustworthy Data Repository by being approved for CoreTrustSeal certification.
We are delighted to announce that the CSD has now been certified as a Trustworthy Data Repository by the CoreTrustSeal certification board in accordance with the revised and updated 2023-2025 certification standards. This certification provides our depositors and partner organizations with assurances of the reliability and quality of both our data stewardship and the access to data extended to users of the database.
What is CoreTrustSeal
CoreTrustSeal is an international community-based organization launched in 2017. The original criteria were informed by the collaborative partnership between the World Data System (WDS) and the Data Seal of Approval, designed to both determine the trustworthiness of repositories and to encourage and consolidate best practices.
CoreTrustSeal have now certified over 160 repositories from around the world against 16 core requirements, based on the founding criteria and with the FAIR Data Principles. Applications are reviewed by volunteer reviewers (including the CCDC’s own Ian Bruno) mostly drawn from certified repositories who often find that they can better understand and improve their own processes through examination of those used by their peers.
CoreTrustSeal and the CCDC
The CCDC was first awarded certification against the 2017-2019 criteria in 2020. In order to achieve CoreTrustSeal certification, the CCDC had to prepare an application that took into account the many facets of our operation. This included details of the services we have in place for managing, preserving, and providing access to data and the technical infrastructure supporting these. It described the activities we undertake to engage with our user communities and the governance structures we have in place to ensure that we stay true to our mission. It provided evidence that we have appropriate levels of staff, revenues, and funding to ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations, and contingency plans should something unforeseen occur. It offered an account of the procedures and workflows we have in place to ensure the authenticity integrity of data deposited with us and enable meaningful reuse by others.
This certification expired in 2023, requiring the CCDC to apply to be certified against the updated CoreTrustSeal criteria for 2023-2025. Whilst the new criteria shares much in common with the previous criteria, applying to renew our certification provided us with an opportunity to reflect both on how the CoreTrustSeal criteria has been evolved and how we’ve developed as an organization in the interim.
The changes to the criteria encouraged us to do more than merely repeat the contents of our previous application. During the past 2-3 years the CCDC has grown as an organization, and we have invested significantly in modernizing our core data platforms in anticipation of future needs and opportunities.
An Opportunity to Reflect and Improve
One of the most significant changes to the criteria is the requirement for data repositories to have succession plans in place to safeguard continuity of service and to ensure ongoing access to and preservation of data and metadata. We are currently in discussion with the International Union of Crystallography regarding the need for the CCDC to have a successor organization, and exploring what this would mean in practice.
The revised criteria have further required us to reflect on how we’ve updated our policies and processes in the last few years, focusing on how we maintain trust with our depositors whilst evolving our data stewardship practices. Trust is especially important given the need for evermore stringent curation practices in the face of the increasing rise of research paper mills and the risks they pose to data producers and repositories.
We have also taken this opportunity to reflect upon increasing spread of skills throughout the organization, from our software developers to our scientist and editors, without whom the maintenance of the CSD would not be possible. We would not have been able achieve renewed certification without the tireless work of our Systems Team in producing and maintaining the technical infrastructure befitting of a world class data repository.
Once completed, our application was reviewed by members of the CoreTrustSeal Assembly of Reviewers and the CoreTrustSeal Board. They provided feedback on areas that they felt required elaboration or clarification and we are grateful to the reviewers for helping us to strengthen our application.
You can view the final version of our application here.
Next Steps
To discuss further and/or request a demo with one of our scientists, please contact us via this form or .