Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the Data Catalogue and how to use it. If you have a question that isn't answered here, please don't hesitate to contact us.

What is the Data Catalogue?

For more information on the catalogue, see our About page.

Why does the catalogue look different to the last time I visited?

We recently did some major redevelopment work, including creating a new user interface, implementing a new data model based on the DATS model and recurating a lot of the content. We are still in the process of adding some of the older projects into the new model. If you urgently need access to any of the old catalogue entries, we have an archived version of the old Data Catalog available.

What is the difference between "Project", "Study" and "Dataset"?

The data model on which the catalogue distinguishes between these three categories:

The Project view presents high-level information about catalogue entries, such as title, general research area, and publications, as well as funding and contributor contact information.

The Study view presents a range of metadata describing the data acquisition process such as sample and protocol information.

The Dataset view presents metadata about collections of data associated with projects, including version numbers and creation dates, links to source data and general.

Populating Study- and Dataset-level information for all projects is an ongoing process, so you may find empty place-holder pages for some of these.

How can I search the catalogue?

You can search each of the three aspects (Project, Study and Dataset) separately, using a number of factors including title, disease, species, keywords, data types etc. The search functionality is under active development as we work on providing an integrated experience across the entire catalogue.

How can I request access to a dataset?

On some Dataset pages, you will find a "Request access" button, which allows you to submit a data access request to the system. These datasets are hosted by ELIXIR Luxembourg's data hosting service so we are able to process these access requests according to the data reuse conditions specified by the data owner. We are not able to provide or facilitate dataset access for projects not hosted at ELIXIR Luxembourg, except where the data is already available through a public data repository, in which case a direct link to the data is provided.

What are the reuse conditions for the information displayed in the Data Catalogue?

All project-, study- and dataset-related information published in the catalogue is freely available for reuse under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. The catalogue code base is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).

What does the "FAIRplus Evaluated" badge signify?

The FAIRplus project works on developing tools and guidelines for making life science data FAIR, using a range of IMI projects as data sources to showcase and test its output. The "FAIRplus Evaluated" badge highlights projects which have been processed by the FAIRplus project, undergoing at least one "FAIRification cycle", including an evaluation of FAIR maturity before and after the FAIRification work. A link to the FAIRplus evaluation is available on relevant Dataset pages.

How do I report a bug or request a new feature?

Please submit any bug reports and feature requests to the issue tracker on catalogue Github repo. We'd love to hear from you!

I think my project should be in the Data Catalogue but it isn't. How can I get it included?

To talk to us about Data Catalogue content, please drop us an email.

I have found a mistake in the metadata for my project. How can I get it fixed?

To talk to us about Data Catalog content, please drop us an email.