Data formats

The choice of suitable file formats is important to ensure subsequent use. For this purpose, the data should (as far as possible) be stored in non-proprietary, open formats. Many data formats can be converted with little effort, but it is better to specify which data formats are to be worked with right at the start of a project. Sometimes it can happen that a conversion to an open, non-proprietary data format is not possible or only possible with a lot of effort or even with data loss. In these cases, it should be documented with which software the files can be used.

In addition, research data should be archived for at least 10 years for good scientific practice. However, not all formats are suitable for this. 

To ensure reuse and archiving, we recommend the following data formats:

File formats