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v2026.1714 entries · CC-BY 4.0
Dictionary termTrack EStablev2026.2

Output legacy planning

The explicit planning, typically conducted late in execution and at closeout, for the long-term stewardship, accessibility, and re-use of project outputs (data, software, publications, prototypes, networks) beyond the project's funded lifetime.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board
· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

  • Is an instance

    A consortium publishes its dataset on Zenodo with a CC BY 4.0 licence, assigns a DOI, and writes a comprehensive README for the legacy.

  • Is an instance

    A research network transfers its long-running community workshop to a learned society as part of legacy planning.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

  • Not an instance

    A short-lived project blog with no preservation plan does not show legacy planning.

  • Not an instance

    Outputs left only on a private server unreferenced are not preserved as legacy.

Editorial commentary

Output legacy planning is closely related to post-project sustainability but emphasises the curatorial and stewardship dimensions. Activities include selecting appropriate repositories (Zenodo, domain-specific data centres, institutional repositories), assigning persistent identifiers (DOIs), versioning final outputs, licensing for re-use (CC BY, MIT, Apache 2.0), preparing documentation and metadata for findability, and handing off to maintainer institutions or communities. Funder mandates (NIH DMS, UKRI, Horizon Europe ORD) shape these practices.

References

  • NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy 2023; Horizon Europe Open Research Data policy.

Also known as

Legacy planning · Output stewardship · Output preservation planning

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element
xml
<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Output legacy planning"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/output-legacy-planning" />
Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)
json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Output legacy planning",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/output-legacy-planning",
  "description": "The explicit planning, typically conducted late in execution and at closeout, for the long-term stewardship, accessibility, and re-use of project outputs (data, software, publications, prototypes, networks) beyond the project's funded lifetime.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-lifecycle-stages-and-project-metadata/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/output-legacy-planning",
  "sameAs": [
    "Legacy planning",
    "Output stewardship",
    "Output preservation planning"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

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