ICPSR and CoreTrustSeal: Repository Certification Experiences and Opportunities

CoreTrustSeal Data Repository certification is meant to demonstrate to researchers that data repositories are taking appropriate measures to ensure sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures. Certification also improves repository processes and procedures through measurement against a community standard. CoreTrustSeal began issuing certifications in 2017 and replaces the Data Seal of Approval (DSA) certification and World Data System (WDS) Regular Members certification. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) was one of the first six data repositories to earn the Data Seal of Approval in 2011. ICPSR earned the World Data System certification in 2013.

This presentation discusses ICPSR's experiences going through the new CoreTrustSeal certification process. We discuss the effort required to apply for certification, the differences from the earlier repository certifications, and the lessons learned from the process.