Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A face-recognition benchmark distributed with a datasheet listing demographic composition, consent procedures, and recommended uses.
- Is an instance
An NLP corpus accompanied by a datasheet documenting source domains and crawling rules.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A dataset README containing only file format and column descriptions.
- Not an instance
A model card (covers the model, not the dataset).
Editorial commentary
Gebru et al. (2021) proposed datasheets to make dataset provenance and limitations visible to downstream model builders. Topics covered include consent and licensing of subjects, sampling and labelling procedures, demographic composition, known biases, and recommended/cautioned uses. Datasheets are complementary to model cards.
References
- Gebru et al., 'Datasheets for datasets' (Communications of the ACM, 2021).
Frequently Asked Questions
Who introduced datasheets for datasets, and where was the concept published?
The concept was proposed by Gebru et al. in a 2021 paper, ‘Datasheets for datasets,’ published in Communications of the ACM, to make dataset provenance and limitations visible to downstream model builders.
What does a datasheet for datasets document?
It is a structured document accompanying a machine-learning dataset that records its motivation, composition, collection process, pre-processing, intended uses, distribution, and maintenance, modelled on datasheets used for electronic components. In practice this covers consent and licensing of subjects, sampling and labelling procedures, demographic composition, known biases, and recommended or cautioned uses.
How is a datasheet for datasets different from a model card?
A datasheet documents the dataset itself, while a model card documents the model trained on it. The two are complementary, not interchangeable.
Does a dataset README count as a datasheet for datasets?
No. A README that only lists file formats and column descriptions does not qualify. A datasheet for datasets additionally covers consent, sampling and labelling procedures, demographic composition, known biases, and recommended or cautioned uses.
What’s an example of a dataset with a datasheet for datasets?
Examples include a face-recognition benchmark distributed with a datasheet listing its demographic composition, consent procedures, and recommended uses, and an NLP corpus accompanied by a datasheet documenting its source domains and crawling rules.
Also known as
dataset datasheet
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Datasheet for datasets"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/datasheet-for-datasets" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/datasheet-for-datasets",
"name": "Datasheet for datasets",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/datasheet-for-datasets",
"description": "A structured document accompanying a machine-learning dataset that records its motivation, composition, collection process, pre-processing, intended uses, distribution, and maintenance, modelled on electronic-component datasheets.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/ai-ml-research-outputs#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/datasheet-for-datasets",
"sameAs": [
"dataset datasheet"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:22:50",
"dateModified": "2026-08-15T04:41:15",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
