> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://vaxstats.gitbook.io/vax-stats/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://vaxstats.gitbook.io/vax-stats/ingest-policy.md).

# Ingest Policy

### Ingest Policy

Before proposing a new dataset to VaxStats, review the following data requirements.

VaxStats data must be:

| Requirement        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Machine-Readable* | VaxStats data must be machine-readable, and in at least one of the following formats: CSV, XML, RDF, and/or JSON.                                                                                     |
| *Human-Readable*   | VaxStats data must be human-readable, which means it must have adequate descriptions to make it interpretable and reusable.                                                                           |
| *Licensed*         | VaxStats data will be automatically licensed [CC-0](https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/), unless another type of license (such as CC-BY) is found to be acceptable.                              |
| *Secure*           | All data submitted to VaxStats must honor the anonymity of human subjects, and be certified as having made every reasonable effort to remove personally identifiable information from the dataset(s). |
| *Verified*         | Data integrity should be validated with checksums, to ensure against errors.                                                                                                                          |

These policies are in place so that VaxStats data adhere to the FAIR principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. In addition to these principles, the VaxStats repository also emphasizes **trust**, in recognition of the sensitive nature of medical vaccination data about children.