v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack BStablev2026.2

CoreTrustSeal

A community-based, non-profit certification scheme for trustworthy data repositories, operated by the CoreTrustSeal Foundation, awarded against 16 published requirements covering organisational infrastructure, digital object management, and technical infrastructure.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
DANS, 4TU.ResearchData, and many other repositories certified to CoreTrustSeal.
Is an instance
A funder requiring deposit in a CoreTrustSeal-certified repository as a condition of award.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
An ISO 9001 quality management certification is not CoreTrustSeal.
Not an instance
A self-declared statement of trustworthiness without peer review is not CoreTrustSeal.

Editorial commentary

CoreTrustSeal emerged in 2017 from the merger of the Data Seal of Approval (DSA) and the ICSU World Data System certification. Repositories submit self-assessments against the 16 requirements; assessments are peer-reviewed by community reviewers; successful applicants receive a three-year certification (renewable). CoreTrustSeal is the de facto entry-level certification for data repositories and is recognised by major funders, the European Commission, and the OpenAIRE-Nexus and EOSC programmes.

References

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Also known as

CTS

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="CoreTrustSeal"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/coretrustseal" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "CoreTrustSeal",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/coretrustseal",
  "description": "A community-based, non-profit certification scheme for trustworthy data repositories, operated by the CoreTrustSeal Foundation, awarded against 16 published requirements covering organisational infrastructure, digital object management, and technical infrastructure.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-data-infrastructure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/coretrustseal",
  "sameAs": [
    "CTS"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

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