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Datasheet for datasets

By Updated

Documentation that accompanies a dataset with its motivation, composition, collection process, preprocessing, uses, distribution and maintenance, as proposed by Gebru and colleagues 1; the human-readable companion to the dataset admission record and the data card.

Developed in
ch. 14, Model cards, system cards and datasheets
Chapters
ch. 14, Development
Contrast with
Data card
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

The term is not used under this name in running prose; the sections listed under "Developed in" treat it.

  • Model card

    Structured, versioned documentation of a model (provenance, intended use, capabilities, evaluations and known failure modes) maintained as code.

  • System card

    Documentation of a deployed AI system as a whole (models, prompts, retrieval, tools, guardrails and oversight), where a model card documents one model.

Sources

  1. [1] Datasheets for Datasets (Gebru et al.; arXiv 1803.09010). arXiv. 2018-03-23. https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.09010 (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Datasheet for datasets. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/datasheet-for-datasets. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026datasheetfordatasets,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Datasheet for datasets}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/datasheet-for-datasets}
}