Paris, October 2025.
CODATA and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) are delighted to announce the publication of the updated CODATA Research Data Management Terminology (RDMT) 2025. The Terminology is open to the public and free to use via the ARDC’s Research Vocabularies Australia (RVA) service at https://vocabs.ardc.edu.au/
The RDMT enables those working on research data management (RDM) to access clear, unambiguous and referenceable definitions of RDM terms. It is useful for those working within the contexts of:
- research
- data management
- digital curation and preservation
- research management
- research policy
- open data advocacy
- computer science
- information management
- research administration
- library
- scholarly publishing
- digital archiving
- research funding roles.
Laura Molloy, Senior Research Lead at CODATA and convenor of the RDMT Working Group, said, “I am happy to announce that this updated edition of the CODATA Research Data Management Terminology is now ready. Version 002, published with our technical partners at the ARDC, offers a refreshed and updated new version for users – including humans and machines – thanks to the sterling efforts of our 2025 Working Group. We’re very pleased to continue to support FAIR and interoperable data through this important community effort.”
Rowan Brownlee, RVA Product Manager confirmed, “The ARDC is delighted to continue partnering with CODATA in making the Research Data Management Terminology openly available in a machine-actionable form. The updated release strengthens the global foundation for consistent, interoperable research data management and supports the FAIR principles in practice.”
A community effort
Many experts from the RDM community and related domains have contributed intellectual effort to the new, revised Terminology. The current release includes expert input from the research, archives, digital preservation, RDM, digital curation, open data advocacy and computing sectors. These experts worked together as the second iteration of the RDMT Working Group to refine and improve the list of terms inherited from the former CASRAI RDM Glossary. CASRAI requested that CODATA take over stewardship of the CASRAI RDM Glossary in 2020. The new Terminology emerges as the second new edition of the RDMT. Further reviews will be conducted on a regular biennial pattern.
Open to all
The CODATA Research Data Management Terminology (RDMT) v002 is available now at https://vocabs.ardc.edu.au/
ARDC Research Vocabularies Australia caters for researchers and those who support, describe and discover research, including vocabulary managers, ontologists, data managers and librarians. Research Vocabularies Australia is part of the national research infrastructure operated by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) to enable more valuable data for Australian research. The ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers. CODATA is delighted to have had the expertise of the ARDC team as technical partners on this project.
Questions?
For any enquiries about the revised RDMT, please contact RDMT WG convenor Laura Molloy at laura AT codata.org.