Use cases and benefits of persistent identifiers for dataset elements

In many scientific disciplines, Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) are commonly available only at the study or dataset level but not at the level of the inline data objects that are usually used by researchers, making it difficult to track and cite them. This paper focuses on registering PIDs also for finer-grained elements of a dataset representing the primary entities of research, such as survey variables in the Social Sciences, beyond the traditional approach of assigning PIDs to entire datasets. The paper highlights the benefits of this approach for researchers and research data centers and discusses four use cases from the consortium KonsortSWD of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), addressing how project partners adopt the idea of having PIDs for dataset elements below study level according to their needs, data types and available services. The use cases address requirements from the perspective of empirical Social Sciences, targeting different types of dataset elements that should have a PID, such as individual survey variables, information bundles (variable groups), and qualitative data contained in observation recordings, interviews, and transcriptions. The paper concludes with functionalities that require persistent identifiers to be implemented, such as automated access mechanisms to access elements in the dataset directly.
The service is part of KonsortSWD project deliverable, NFDI funding number 442494171.