Researcher Auth Service Initiative

The NIH is the largest biomedical research agency in the world and home to many valuable data resources and platforms at the forefront of data science for data research. These resources are currently located in separate systems with each system requiring a separate login even if it uses the same credentials as another system.

Because these resources are currently siloed, researchers must manage multiple credentials when attempting to access multiple NIH-funded data platforms while conducting their research. Researchers are unable to move from system to system using one set of credentials, which causes delays in accessing information and completing full research exercises.

To reduce the burden on researchers’ access to data, the Researcher Auth Service (RAS) will be a service provided by NIH's Center for Information Technology to facilitate access to NIH’s open and controlled data assets and repositories in a consistent and user-friendly manner. The RAS initiative is advancing data infrastructure and ecosystem goals defined in the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science.

Using human-centered design principles, RAS will combine input from researchers and the work of partner institutions on the initiative to design a user experience that reduces points of friction throughout the process (e.g., eliminating or reducing the need for researchers to have to furnish distinct/multiple credentials).

Security is another driving factor for the RAS services; increased protection of intellectual resources through automated logging of user activities will facilitate easier investigation and activity tracing in the event of a cyber security incident.

The service offerings explains the authentication, authorization, and logging services available to NIH Institutes and Centers and extramural systems desiring information about users requesting to access NIH’s open and controlled data assets and repositories through RAS.

NIH expects to deploy in late 2020 a set of APIs that will allow seamless access to researchers for integrated data repositories. A researcher accessing NIH data resources can log in with any one of their preferred credentials (eRA Commons, ORCID or Google) and they would then be able to access any integrated repository without having to log in again. Existing rules for authorization will be enforced so a user can only access data that he or she has been authorized to view.

RAS uses open standards and protocols and provides integrating systems with many standards-based options for integration. These integrations will allow NIH staff to log into participating external institutes/applications using their NIH or eRA credentials.