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

Dictionary termTrack BStablev2026.2

Data commons

A shared data resource — often combined with shared computing and analysis tools — governed by a community under defined access and contribution rules, designed to enable many users to use and add to the resource for collective benefit.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
NCI Genomic Data Commons (gdc.cancer.gov) hosting TCGA and many other cancer-genomic datasets.
Is an instance
AnVIL (NHGRI Analysis Visualization and Informatics Lab-space) for human-genomic data analysis.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A read-only data dump on a website is not a data commons.
Not an instance
A single-institution dataset with no shared tooling or governance is not a data commons.

Editorial commentary

The term draws on Ostrom’s analysis of commons governance and is widely used in biomedical and earth-science research. The NIH National Cancer Institute Genomic Data Commons, the NIH Common Fund Data Ecosystem, and the AnVIL platform are exemplars. A data commons typically combines: a curated data set or federation of data sets; shared compute and tooling co-located with the data; a governance body; and a contribution/access policy that supports inclusion and reuse while protecting sensitive data and contributor rights.

References

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Also known as

Research data commons

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Data commons"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/data-commons" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Data commons",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/data-commons",
  "description": "A shared data resource — often combined with shared computing and analysis tools — governed by a community under defined access and contribution rules, designed to enable many users to use and add to the resource for collective benefit.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-data-infrastructure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/data-commons",
  "sameAs": [
    "Research data commons"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

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