
Writing a data management plan: file format obsolescence and standards
File formats that are in widespread use, or are non-proprietary (like open source), or portable will tend to retain a good chance of being rendered in the future. Specialised proprietary formats used only by a niche set of users may present problems for future use.
Rapid changes in technology and the market mean that file formats can become obsolete quickly - sometimes a software application is even unable to read a data file created by an earlier version of itself. The implications for research data management depend on how long data need to be retained for future use - your own or others'.
Data formats that conform to an agreed international standard are less likely to become obsolete, because a variety of software applications should be able to read them. However, there are likely to be trade-offs in terms of software functionality, for example loss of formatting or macros.
Sometimes there is a de facto standard that is used; for example, PDF, an openly published portable document format invented by Adobe, has become a de facto standard for publishing documents on the web in a way that retains the original layout, fonts and text formatting.