Answer

Data standards are the guidelines by which data are described and recorded. In order to share, exchange, combine and understand data, we must standardize the format as well as the meaning. This also helps everyone spend less time cleaning and processing data, since hopefully the format follows a common pattern, or standard.

Different types of research domains, file types, and content types have different standards. For example, the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) is a standard for neuroimaging and behavioral data. The standard tells people how files should be organized, what the headers should be, etc. so as to “avoid misunderstandings and time wasted on rearranging data or rewriting scripts expecting a certain structure.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data standards are a means to promote the efficient sharing of environmental information among US EPA, states, tribes, local governments, the private sector, and other information trading partners.

Some fields do not have data standards -- and that is ok. The best case scenario then is to use open file formats for sustainability and to document your work well.