18th May 2017: we are undertaking planned maintenance to some of our online services [more]
Data citations and DOIs
The BODC 'Published Data Library' (PDL) provides snapshots of specially chosen datasets that are archived using rigorous version management. This enables citation in journal papers through the assignment of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in collaboration with the British Library.
To find out more about our PDL follow these links
- Level of service — View the level of service that the PDL offers to data contributors.
- Dataset selection procedures — Find out about the selection procedures for dataset inclusion in our PDL.
- Dataset standards — View the good practice criteria, adopted across NERC's Environmental Data Centres, that must be met for a dataset to be included for publication in our PDL.
- Dataset modification and versioning — Find out how changes to published datasets will be handled.
- Access the PDL catalogue — A complete list of datasets included in the BODC PDL.
The rationale behind the PDL
There is increasing pressure from the scientific community for an intimate linkage between papers published in the scientific literature and the data upon which they are based and for a mechanism to reward data collection through citation. These requirements expose a philosophical difference between the data serving practices of many data centres and the publication model.
The publication process exposes a fixed copy of an object and then manages that copy in such a way that it may be located and referred to over an indefinite period of time. There is a fundamental assumption that the copy of the object will be exactly the same each time it is referenced.
Many data centres, including BODC up until 2011, consider data to be a dynamic entity that improves with time and that users should be served with the best currently available version of the data of interest. Past versions of data objects are not retained, particularly those resulting from relatively trivial changes such as improved wording of parameter definitions. Consequently, were a data object to be cited as published there is no guarantee that it would be the same each time it was accessed.
To address this BODC has developed a 'Published Data Library'.
Related BODC pages
| Where to find data | Information and inventories | |
| Online delivery |
Related external links
| British Library | Digital Object Identifier (DOI) |
