{"doi":"10.1038/s41597-021-01019-1","title":"The short-term mortality fluctuation data series, monitoring mortality shocks across time and space","abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed substantial coverage and quality gaps in existing international and national statistical monitoring systems. It is striking that obtaining timely, accurate, and comparable across countries data in order to adequately respond to unexpected epidemiological threats is very challenging. The most robust and reliable approach to quantify the mortality burden due to short-term risk factors is based on estimating weekly excess deaths. This approach is more reliable than monitoring deaths with COVID-19 diagnosis or calculating incidence or fatality rates affected by numerous problems such as testing coverage and comparability of diagnostic approaches. In response to the emerging data challenges, a new data resource on weekly mortality has been established. The Short-term Mortality Fluctuations (STMF, available at www.mortality.org ) data series is the first international database providing open-access harmonized, uniform, and fully documented data on weekly all-cause mortality. The STMF online vizualisation tool provides an opportunity to perform a quick assessment of the excess weekly mortality in one or several countries by means of an interactive graphical interface.","journal":"Scientific Data","year":2021,"id":212974,"datarank":2.594092965505624,"base_score":3.9512437185814275,"endowment":3.9512437185814275,"self_citation_contribution":0.5926865577872142,"citation_network_contribution":2.00140640771841,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5926865577872142,"citer_contribution":2.00140640771841,"corpus_percentile":91.59124313452463,"corpus_rank":1088,"citation_count":51,"citer_count":37,"citers_with_citation_signal":30,"citers_with_endowment":30,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":true,"is_dataset_confidence":0.6464,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":72.9167,"fair_percentile":95.2613879547539,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":804850,"name":"Ainhoa Alústiza Galarza","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":802908,"name":"Vladimir M. Shkolnikov","orcid":"0000-0003-2259-5423","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":804161,"name":"Domantas Jasilionis","orcid":"0000-0001-9959-9292","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":804162,"name":"László Németh","orcid":"0000-0002-8845-2540","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":804163,"name":"David A. Leon","orcid":"0000-0001-9747-1762","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":804851,"name":"Carl Boe","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":660107,"name":"Magali Barbiéri","orcid":"0000-0003-3501-4034","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":802907,"name":"Dmitri A. Jdanov","orcid":"0000-0003-4633-2011","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":21,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:52:31.378994Z","pmid":"34489477","pmcid":"PMC8421508","fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":83.3333,"fair_a":37.5,"fair_i":60.0,"fair_r":79.1667,"fair_zscore":1.5226,"fair_rationale":{"fair_score":72.92,"has_llm":true,"taxonomy_version":"fair_taxonomy_v5","dimensions":{"F":{"name":"Findable","score":83.33,"criteria":[{"key":"f_dataset_pid","label":"Persistent identifier for the data","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"The data, metadata, and detailed documentation are freely available for all users at the HMD website (www. mortality.org).","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper gives a web address (www.mortality.org) as the location of the data, but no persistent identifier in a predicating sentence. [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-F1-01D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a persistent identifier' (priorit","RDA-F1-02D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a globally unique identifier'","FsF-F1-02D — F-UJI/FAIRsFAIR: 'Data is assigned a persistent identifier'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"f_repository_named","label":"Named repository","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"The snapshot of the dataset described here is available at the figshare repository 11.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper names the figshare repository as the snapshot location. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-F4-01M — FAIR Data Maturity Model: metadata is offered so it can be harvested and indexed (","NIH DMS Policy Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — name the repository where data will be archived","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Long-Term Sustainability', 'Reten"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"f_data_availability_statement","label":"Data-availability statement","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"The data, metadata, and detailed documentation are freely available for all users at the HMD website (www. mortality.org).","grounded":true,"rationale":"The statement points to a public repository (HMD website) with a URL, corresponding to Colavizza category 3. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["Colavizza, Hrynaszkiewicz, Staden, Whitaker & McGillivray (2020), 'The citation advantage of li","Springer Nature research data policy — Data Availability Statements: standard statement templat","RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"f_discovery_metadata","label":"Description of the dataset as an object","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Data Records","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper has a 'Data Records' section that itemises the structure of the dataset. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-F2-01M — 'Rich metadata is provided to allow discovery' (priority Essential)","FsF-F2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes descriptive core elements to support data findability'","FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"f_dataset_cited","label":"Dataset formally cited","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"Jdanov, D. A., Shkolnikov, V. & Alustiza Galarza, A. Short Term Mortality Fluctuations series at the Human Mortality Database. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13275323 (2021).","grounded":false,"rationale":"The dataset appears as a reference-list entry (reference 11) with a DOI for the dataset. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (2014) — data should be cited as a first-","RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes","FsF-F3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes the identifier of the data it describes'"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]},"A":{"name":"Accessible","score":37.5,"criteria":[{"key":"a_data_openly_accessible","label":"Access route free of preconditions","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper states that the data are freely and openly accessible without any precondition. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-A1.1-01D — 'Data is accessible through a free access protocol'","FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data'","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Free and Easy Access'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"a_access_conditions_stated","label":"Access level labelled","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper explicitly labels the data as providing 'open and easy access', which is an access-level label. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data'","RDA-A1-01M — metadata contains information to enable the user to get access to the data","COAR Controlled Vocabularies — Access Rights v1.0 (open / embargoed / restricted / metadata-onl"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The data are aggregate mortality statistics, not sensitive; no gatekeeper is named.","anchors":["NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-14-124) — controlled-access via a Data Access Committee","RDA-A1.2-01D — 'Data is accessible through an access protocol that supports authentication and ","NIH DMS Policy Element 5 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations (conse"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","label":"Availability timing & retention","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper states that the data are currently available but does not specify a retention period. [downgraded to 'no' — no verifiable quote from the paper]","anchors":["NIH DMS Plan Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines","NSTC Desirable Characteristics (2022), Organizational Infrastructure: 'Retention Policy'","RDA-A2-01M — 'Metadata is guaranteed to remain available after data is no longer available'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"I":{"name":"Interoperable","score":60.0,"criteria":[{"key":"i_open_nonproprietary_format","label":"Open file format","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Data is available in two formats: as an Excel file and as a comma-separated (CSV) file.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper states the data are available in CSV format, an open standard. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-R1.3-02D — F-UJI: 'Data is available in a file format recommended by the target research co","RDA-R1.3-02D — data is expressed in a machine-understandable community standard","RDA-I1-01D — data uses a knowledge representation expressed in a standardised format"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"i_community_standard_vocabulary","label":"Community standard / vocabulary","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No community data standard (e.g., MIAME) is named; the paper only describes its own methods. [majority verdict 'no' (2/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1.3-01M — 'Metadata complies with a community standard' (priority Essential)","RDA-R1.3-01D — 'Data complies with a community standard'","RDA-I2-01M — '(Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles'"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"i_qualified_references","label":"Identifiers for the resources the data depend on","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"The tool can be accessed at https://mpidr.shinyapps.io/stmortality.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper provides a URL for the visualization tool, a resource other than the dataset. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-I3-01M — '(meta)data include references to other (meta)data'","RDA-I3-03M — 'metadata includes qualified references to other metadata'","FsF-I3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes links between the data and its related entities'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"R":{"name":"Reusable","score":79.17,"criteria":[{"key":"r_reuse_license","label":"Reuse licence","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"We use CC-BY 4.0 license 10 for the STMF data.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper states the data are under CC-BY 4.0 license, an open standard. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1.1-01M — 'Metadata includes information about the licence under which the data can be reu","RDA-R1.1-02M — 'Metadata refers to a standard reuse licence'","RDA-R1.1-03M — 'Metadata refers to a machine-understandable reuse licence'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"r_provenance_methods","label":"Provenance of the data","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper names specific tools, such as the 'demography' R package, used to produce the data. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper]","anchors":["RDA-R1.2-01M — 'Metadata includes provenance information according to community- specific standa","FsF-R1.2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes provenance information about data creation or generati","W3C PROV-O (W3C Recommendation, 2013) — the entity/activity/agent model of provenance"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_documentation_codebook","label":"Documentation / codebook","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"The country-specific metadata including information about data sources and shape of the original data is provided as a separate PDF file.","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper mentions a separate PDF metadata file that accompanies the data. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1-01M — '(Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attribu","FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'","NIH DMS Policy Element 3 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Standards (documentation and metadata to accompany t"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_versioning","label":"Snapshot identified","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper does not provide a version token or date for the data snapshot. [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — the 'Version' property","RDA-R1.2-01M — provenance information (which version was used is provenance)","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Provenance', 'Retention Policy'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_code_availability","label":"Analysis code available","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"All R scripts used to process the STMF data are available at Zenodo23.","grounded":true,"rationale":"Zenodo provides a machine-resolvable DOI for the code. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["NIH DMS Policy Element 2 (NOT-OD-21-014) — 'Related Tools, Software and/or Code'","FAIR4RS Principles v1.0 (Chue Hong et al., 2022; RDA/FORCE11/ReSA) — FAIR Principles for Resear","FORCE11 Software Citation Principles (Smith, Katz & Niemeyer, 2016, PeerJ CS 2:e86)"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_funding_attribution","label":"Funder and award number","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper gives specific grant numbers (R03-AG058110 and P30-AG012839) from the NIH. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — 'FundingReference' property (funderName, funderIdentifier, award","Crossref Funder Registry — canonical funder identifiers for funding metadata","RDA-F2-01M — rich metadata provided to allow discovery (funding is part of the descriptive reco"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]}},"actions":[{"key":"f_dataset_pid","dimension":"F","label":"Persistent identifier for the data","action":"Mint or cite a persistent identifier for the dataset — a repository DOI or an accession from a registered repository — and print it in the paper. A bare URL is not persistent: it is the single most common cause of a dead data link five years after publication. For clinical / human-subjects data, deposit in dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA).","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"The data, metadata, and detailed documentation are freely available for all users at the HMD website (www. mortality.org).","why":"The paper gives a web address (www.mortality.org) as the location of the data, but no persistent identifier in a predicating sentence. [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]","gain":8.33,"priority":"essential","scored":true},{"key":"a_data_openly_accessible","dimension":"A","label":"Access route free of preconditions","action":"Remove the precondition or justify it. Release the data at publication with no embargo, no registration wall, and no approval step — NIH's zero-embargo public- access rule (NOT-OD-25-101) has already made 'available at publication' the federal baseline for the article; the data should not lag behind it. For clinical / human-subjects data, deposit in dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA).","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper states that the data are freely and openly accessible without any precondition. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":8.33,"priority":"essential","scored":true},{"key":"f_dataset_cited","dimension":"F","label":"Dataset formally cited","action":"Cite the dataset in the reference list like a publication — creator, year, title, repository, DOI/accession — and cite it in-text where it is used. Only a reference- list entry is machine-readable to Crossref/DataCite, and only a citation lets the data earn credit. Cite the clinical / human-subjects repository accession (e.g. from dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA)) in the reference list.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Jdanov, D. A., Shkolnikov, V. & Alustiza Galarza, A. Short Term Mortality Fluctuations series at the Human Mortality Database. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13275323 (2021).","why":"The dataset appears as a reference-list entry (reference 11) with a DOI for the dataset. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":4.17,"priority":"important","scored":true},{"key":"r_versioning","dimension":"R","label":"Snapshot identified","action":"Version the deposit and cite the exact version analysed (a version-specific DOI, or an accession with its version suffix). A reader reproducing your work against 'the current release' is reproducing it against a different dataset.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper does not provide a version token or date for the data snapshot. [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":4.17,"priority":"useful","scored":true},{"key":"x_funding_attribution","dimension":"R","label":"Funder and award number","action":"State the funder AND the award number in the paper, and put them in the dataset's FundingReference metadata. A funder name alone cannot be linked back to the award, so the funding provenance of the data is lost the moment the paper is indexed.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper gives specific grant numbers (R03-AG058110 and P30-AG012839) from the NIH. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":2.08,"priority":"useful","scored":true},{"key":"a_access_conditions_stated","dimension":"A","label":"Access level labelled","action":"State the access level in words, using the standard vocabulary: 'These data are open access' / 'These data are controlled access'. A reader — and a harvester — should not have to infer the access level from the presence of a download link.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper explicitly labels the data as providing 'open and easy access', which is an access-level label. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"i_community_standard_vocabulary","dimension":"I","label":"Community standard / vocabulary","action":"Adopt and NAME your domain's data standard — the minimum-information checklist, metadata schema, or ontology your community uses (MIAME/MINSEQE, ISA-Tab, BIDS, an OBO ontology, HL7 FHIR/OMOP) — and say which one you followed. A reporting checklist standardises your paper; it does nothing for your data. In clinical / human-subjects, describe the data with OMOP CDM, CDISC SDTM or HL7 FHIR.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No community data standard (e.g., MIAME) is named; the paper only describes its own methods. [majority verdict 'no' (2/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"r_provenance_methods","dimension":"R","label":"Provenance of the data","action":"Name the instruments, kits, and software — with versions — that produced the data, not just the verbs. 'Reads were aligned' is not provenance; 'aligned with STAR v2.7.9a to GRCh38' is, because someone else can rerun it.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper names specific tools, such as the 'demography' R package, used to produce the data. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","dimension":"A","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","action":"Route sensitive data through an institutional gatekeeper — deposit in a controlled- access repository (dbGaP, EGA) with a Data Access Committee and a published DUA — rather than through the corresponding author's inbox. An author-gated dataset dies with the author's email address, and 'on reasonable request' has been shown repeatedly not to yield data. For sensitive/human clinical / human-subjects data, use a controlled-access repository such as dbGaP or EGA.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"The data are aggregate mortality statistics, not sensitive; no gatekeeper is named.","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","dimension":"A","label":"Availability timing & retention","action":"State when the data become available AND how long they will be retained — cite the repository's preservation policy. NIH DMS Element 4 asks for both; most papers give neither.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"The paper states that the data are currently available but does not specify a retention period. [downgraded to 'no' — no verifiable quote from the paper]","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false}],"suggestions":["Mint or cite a persistent identifier for the dataset — a repository DOI or an accession from a registered repository — and print it in the paper. A bare URL is not persistent: it is the single most common cause of a dead data link five years after publication. For clinical / human-subjects data, deposit in dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA).","Remove the precondition or justify it. Release the data at publication with no embargo, no registration wall, and no approval step — NIH's zero-embargo public- access rule (NOT-OD-25-101) has already made 'available at publication' the federal baseline for the article; the data should not lag behind it. For clinical / human-subjects data, deposit in dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA).","Cite the dataset in the reference list like a publication — creator, year, title, repository, DOI/accession — and cite it in-text where it is used. Only a reference- list entry is machine-readable to Crossref/DataCite, and only a citation lets the data earn credit. Cite the clinical / human-subjects repository accession (e.g. from dbGaP or the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA)) in the reference list.","Version the deposit and cite the exact version analysed (a version-specific DOI, or an accession with its version suffix). A reader reproducing your work against 'the current release' is reproducing it against a different dataset.","State the funder AND the award number in the paper, and put them in the dataset's FundingReference metadata. A funder name alone cannot be linked back to the award, so the funding provenance of the data is lost the moment the paper is indexed."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fulltext_source":"unpaywall_pdf"},"fair_model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","fair_agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fair_fulltext_source":"unpaywall_pdf","fair_has_llm":true,"fair_computed_at":"2026-07-20T11:20:34.501919Z","clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}