A new SKG-IF-compatible interface for research data metadata from FSD
A new public API from the Finnish Social Science Data Archive provides access to core metadata on research datasets. Built on the international SKG-IF framework, the FSD SKG-IF API supports interoperability and makes research information easier to discover, share and integrate.
The new public interface is designed to share key descriptive information about research datasets in a standardised and interoperable way. The API follows the Scientific Knowledge Graph Interoperability Framework, which provides shared rules for describing research information, enabling easier exchange between systems. This framework was developed within the Research Data Alliance SKG-IF Working Group and is now used by several major research infrastructures and EOSC projects.
The FSD implementation is based on the original SKG-IF OpenAPI specification. Widely used OpenAPI gives a clear and predictable way to describe how an API works, making it easier for both people and software to understand what information is available and how to request it. At this stage, the FSD's API provides access to selected core metadata about research data, such as titles, abstracts, authors, topics, and access rights.
The FSD SKG-IF API supports pagination and offers filters for both exact-match fields and more flexible searches. Users can filter by identifiers such as DOI, ORCID and ROR, contributor names, or perform text searches in titles and abstracts. Multiple filters can be combined in a single request. The API is intended primarily for machine-to-machine use, but individuals can also browse and query records manually. The overall goal is to improve interoperability, support automated information exchange and make research metadata easier to discover and integrate across systems.
The tool has been developed as part of the FSD AIMS 2030 project's work package focusing on improving metadata interoperability.