Current issue: 58(5)
This table describes the elements of metadata to be used in the description of research materials such as data and codes. The table is based on the work done in the Work Group “Description of research materials” under the Finnish Open Science Coordination.
Download this form as a Word file, fill it and upload with your manuscript as a “dataset” type file.
Item | Description | Fulfils FAIR principle | Responsible |
---|---|---|---|
Name of the data / code | Unambiguous, descriptive name in the language of the material and in English. | Findable | Author |
Author & ORCID | Person or organisation that has produced the material. Write names in the format last name(s)1, first name(s)1, last name(s)2, first name(s)2, etc. Give also the ORCID for persons so that scientists with the same name can be identified. | Findable, accessible, reusable, interoperable | Author |
Authors’ affiliation(s) | Authors’ affiliation to the organisation, in which/with resources of which the material was produced. Give also the ROR of the organisation if possible. | Findable | Author |
Owner of the material | Name the owner(s) of the materials. If no transfer of rights is agreed, the author(s) own the material. Give ORCID for person(s) and ROR for organisation(s) that own the material. | Reusable | Author |
Publisher | The actor who has the right to publish the metadata, materials and/or description of the materials. This may be an archive, a repository or a research organisation. Give the ROR of the organisation if available. | Findable, accessible | Author |
Funder | The actor whose funding and/or resources were used for producing the materials. Give also the ROR of an organisation. | Findable | Author |
Description | Concise description (1-2 paragraphs) of the contents of the materials: Aim and objectives of the materials and use in research; components of the materials; research object and unit of observation. The description should make the material understandable and reusable by other scientists. | Findable, reusable | Author |
Methods | Write an abstract of your methods and provide a link to your article in Silva Fennica. Mention the used instruments, name the sampling and analysis methods, and programmes. | Interoperable, reusable | Author |
Variables | Give the full unabbreviated name of all variables in the dataset, the abbreviation or other identifier used in the dataset and the SI unit of the variable. | Interoperable, resusable | Author |
Author keywords | Free keywords that describe the materials and make them easy to find after publication. | Findable | Author |
Vocabulary keywords (community standard) | Keywords from controlled vocabularies and ontologies (general or disciplinary) that improve the findability of the material. Provide links to the vocabularies used e.g., the taxonomic database used for nomenclature. | Findable | Author |
Discipline | Field(s) of study to which the material is related. This is generally given by the repository as they use specific classifications. | Findable | Archive/Repository/Publisher |
Type of material | Describe the kind of research material deposited e.g., research data, analytical code, model code, interviews, video. | Findable | Author |
Language | Language of the materials. Use the three-letter abbreviation according to the ISO 639-2/3 standard. | Findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable | Author |
Time range covered | Time range that the material covers. Use the date format YYYY-MM-DD according to the ISO 8601 standard. If time is needed, use the format HH:MM:SS. | Findable, interoperable | Author |
Geographic region | Geographical region covered by the materials. If possible, use geographical names and coordinates according to the ISO standard or another machine-readable vocabulary. | Findable, interoperable | Author |
Version | If several versions of the material exist, provide a clear version number. | Reusable | Author |
File format(s) | Use generally used formats that are archivable and independent on (commercial) programmes, like .txt, .csv, .tiff, .mp4. | Accessible, interoperable, reusable | Author |
Availability of the materials (open, embargo, registration, limited, registration required) | Describe the accessibility of the materials. If access is restricted for an acceptable reason, describe it. If the material is commercial or an official database, describe how to buy or apply for access. | Accessible, reusable | Author |
Justification for access restrictions | If the material is not open, justify why the access is restricted/not allowed. | Accessible, reusable | Author |
Licence | A licence defines the conditions for reuse of the material. Silva Fennica requests the use of Creative Commons licences. | Reusable | Author |
Connections with other research materials | Relationship of the material with other research materials: 1) The material is derived from another material e.g., research data is derived from raw data (IsBasedOn), 2) The material is a part of another material (IsPartOf), 3) Other materials are connected to the material (HasPart). | Findable, reusable | Author |
Access to the connected research materials | Describe how to access the related research materials. For open materials, give the permanent identifier or, if not available, the URL. If the materials are not open, describe how to request access. Give the name of the repository or organisation responsible on preserving the material. Use the ROR of the responsible organisation. | Accessible, findable, reusable | Author |
Codes only: hardware/software requirements for running the code | Describe the minimum hardware requirements for running the code. Give the operating system needed. For own codes, describe the environment used for programming e.g., operating system and programming language with version number. If a specific software is needed for running the code, give the name and version of the software. Describe access to the software: Permanent identifier or URL for open software or access instructions to a commercial or other proprietary software. | Interoperable, reusable | Author |
Connections to other products of research | Publications and other products of research that are connected to the material. Provide the DOI of your article in Silva Fennica and other journals if the material is used in several articles. | Findable, reusable | Author |
Personal data | If the materials contain personal data, give the following information: 1) keeper of the registry, 2) does the material contain personal information on people related specific human groups (e.g., indigenous people) and if so, what. | Accessible, reusable | Author |
Confidential or secret data | Does the material contain confidential or secret information e.g., confidential business information or sensitive species information? | Accessible, reusable | Author |
Publication date | Date of publication in an archive or repository. | Findable, interoperable | Archive/Repository/Publisher |
Preservation policy | Decision and plan for preserving the material permanently or for a specific time. Justify why this decision was made. Please note that the author is responsible on removing the material after the predefined preservation time. | Accessible, reusable | Author |
Permanent identifier (PID) | Unambiguous, permanent identifier of the material. The identifier may be DOI, URN or accession number. | Findable, accessible, reusable | Archive/Repository/Publisher |