Kirsten Elger, GFZ Library and Information Services (LIS), is one of the five future members in the leadership team the scientific journal of Earth System Science Data (ESSD). The journal was founded in 2008, the first data journal in the world. Kirsten Elger had served ESSD as "Topical Editor" since 2016, now she has been appointed chief editor.

The international, interdisciplinary journal publishes articles on research data and makes available the described data through recognized research data repositories such as GFZ Data Services. The articles undergo a peer review process, i.e. they are evaluated by other scientists to see whether they are suitable for publication.

For four years Kirsten Elger has been head of the research data repository GFZ Data Services. She has developed the data repository into an internationally recognized place for the publication of citable research data. Furthermore, she is a hub for research data management and represents the GFZ in an international context, e.g. within the framework of the Research Data Alliance (RDA) and the Enabling FAIR Data Project.

On the occasion of the International Data Week 2018, which took place from 5 to 8 November in Gaborone, Botswana, a change of generations at ESSD was initiated and a new editorial team introduced. In addition to Kirsten Elger, it includes Ge Peng North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies - NCICS, USA, Thomas Blunier, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Jens Klump, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - CSIRO, Australia, and Yasuhiro Murayama, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology - NICT, Japan.

Kirsten Elger says: "I am looking forward to my new task, which I also see as an opportunity to further strengthen the visibility of research data and their linkage with publications in the sense of the FAIR principles". (ph)

Further information:

• Earth System Science Data (ESSD)
• Data management at GFZ
• Article about research data management at GFZ (In German) : Elger, K., Bertelmann, R., Ulbricht, D., Haberland, C., Lauterjung, J., Radosavljevic, B., 2018. FAIR at GFZ. Earth system, 8 (1). DOI: 10.2312/GFZ.syserde.08.01.8