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CSD / ICSD

Joint CCDC/FIZ access structures service

Note:

Link to CSD (requires license) ICSD (requires license) and Joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structure that provides open access to the CSD Structure Depot, but not all CSD data.

CSD: Link to FAIRsharing Link to re3data

ICSD: Link to FAIRsharing Link to re3data

ICSD quick facts:​

  • Accepted data types: CIF
  • Used standards/ontologies: none
  • Data deposition condition: controlled
  • Recommended by Journals/Societies: List of the 80 most important journals covered by ICSD

CSD quick facts:​

  • Accepted data types: primarily CIF but other supporting file formats accepted
  • Used standards/ontologies: CIF, DataCite
  • Data deposition condition: partially open
  • Recommended by Journals/Societies: IUCr, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Wiley, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Hindawi, Chemical Society of Japan

Joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structures Service quick facts:​

  • Accepted data types: primarily CIF but other supporting file formats accepted.
  • Used standards/ontologies: CIF, DataCite
  • Data deposition condition: open
  • Recommended by Journals/Societies: IUCr, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Wiley, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Hindawi, Chemical Society of Japan

CSD, ICSD and joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structures Service​

The Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) provided by FIZ Karlsruhe is the world's largest database of completely identified inorganic crystal structures. It contains over 260,000 datasets. Complimentarily, the CCDC provides the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), a certified and trusted database of fully curated and enhanced molecular organic and molecular inorganic crystal structures. First established over fifty years ago it now contains over one million entries. ICSD and CSD support scientists in the field of crystallography, chemistry, material science, physics and structural biology. The joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structures Service, launched in 2018, serves to deposit, register, and preserve structure data of inorganic crystalline compounds at no charge. Crystal structures mentioned in scientific publications are stored in the crystal structure depot. Upon deposition, each dataset is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) so that the crystal structure is unambiguously identified and registered. The DOI enables third parties to cite and reference data according to the rules of good scientific practice.

Both institutions are world-leading experts in structural data and their combined databases contain every published organic and inorganic crystal structure and are essential resources for the structural chemistry community. Each dataset has to pass rigorous quality checks with manual curation performed by scientific experts. These rich, high-quality data resources alongside advanced software provided by the two institutions enable scientists from industry and academia to extract new insights from the data and discover novel scientific trends. Researchers in structural chemistry rely on the data, it is relevant to industry, and used to teach chemistry concepts to new generations of scientists. Collectively, the licensed databases are installed in over 1,300 institutions worldwide.

Prior to data deposition, ICSD requires registration, whereas CSD is open. The joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structures Service is open for depositing data and all datasets are freely available on an individual basis. Moreover, researchers can register, but registration is not required to deposit or retrieve data. DOIs are linked to the related publications in both cases. CIF (Crystallographic Information Framework) serves as the metadata standard and the accepted data type. The joint CCDC/FIZ Access Structures Service and CSD are CoreTrustSeal certified.

Main authors: ORCID:0000-0002-6062-7492, ORCID:0000-0001-7696-7662, ORCID:0000-0003-4480-8661 and ORCID:0000-0002-5035-7978