Opening doors to physical sample tracking and attribution in Earth and environmental sciences

Area of Science:

• Earth and environmental sciences
• Interdisciplinary scientific research

Background:

• Physical samples, data, and metadata are crucial for scientific discovery and reproducibility.
• Current practices often lack accurate provenance tracking, leading to sparse or inaccessible metadata.
• Samples and their associated information are frequently fragmented across various platforms, hindering linkage and reuse.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop guidance for scientific authors on publishing open research using physical samples.
• To address gaps in provenance tracking, reproducibility, and attribution for physical samples.
• To enhance the discoverability, interoperability, and reuse of Earth science samples, data, and metadata.

Main Methods:

• Synthesizing existing best practices in sample curation and data management.
• Gathering community feedback from researchers and data managers.
• Assessing real-world examples of sample and data integration.

Main Results:

• Identified key areas for improvement in citing and linking Earth science samples and related data.
• Developed practical guidelines for authors to enhance sample provenance and track usage.
• Highlighted the need for better infrastructure to support sample-data integration.

Conclusions:

• The developed guidance aims to improve the accessibility and utility of physical samples in scientific research.
• Implementing these guidelines can foster greater reproducibility and attribution in Earth and environmental sciences.
• The principles outlined are broadly applicable to other scientific disciplines relying on physical samples.