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Opening doors to physical sample tracking and attribution in Earth and environmental sciences
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

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

Joan E. Damerow, Natalie H. Raia, Val Stanley, Saebyul Choe, Mikayla A. Borton, Neil Byers, Ellen R. Cassidy, Shreyas Cholia, Rorie Edmunds, Brieanne Forbes, …
Scientific data, v 12(1), 1047
20 Jun 2025
PMID: 40541980
url
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05295-zView
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology Science & Technology - Other Topics
Physical samples and their associated data and metadata underpin scientific discoveries across disciplines and can enable new science when appropriately archived. However, there are significant gaps in current practices and infrastructure that prevent accurate provenance tracking, reproducibility, and attribution. For most samples, descriptive metadata are often sparse, inaccessible, or absent. Samples and associated data and metadata may also be scattered across numerous physical collections, data repositories, laboratories, data files, and papers with no clear linkage or provenance tracking as new information is generated over time. The Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Physical Samples Curation Cluster has therefore developed guidance for scientific authors on 'Publishing Open Research Using Physical Samples.' This involved synthesizing existing practices, gathering community feedback, and assessing real-world examples. We identified improvements needed to enable authors to efficiently cite and link Earth science samples and related data, and track their use. Our goal is to help improve discoverability, interoperability, and reuse of physical samples, and associated data and metadata. Though primarily focused on the needs of Earth and environmental sciences, these guidelines are broadly applicable.

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#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Multidisciplinary Sciences
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