Developing a data identifier taxonomy

Abstract

As the amount of research data management is growing, the use of identity metadata for discovering, linking and citing research data is growing too. To support the awareness of different identifier systems and comparison and selection of identifier for a particular data management environment, there is need for a knowledge base. This paper contributes towards that goal and analyzes the data management and related literatures to develop a data identifier taxonomy. The taxonomy includes four categories (domain, entity types, activities, and quality dimensions). In addition, the paper describes 14 identifiers referenced in the literature and analyzes them along the taxonomy.