Submission Guidelines
Please confirm that your dataset conforms to the requirements and suggestions outlined on the Submission Guidelines and Policies pages. Nonconforming or incomplete datasets will take longer to process and publish.
The ECL Curation Team conducts a review for quality of sample and analytical metadata, not a review of the submitted data itself. The contributor of the dataset is responsible for ensuring quality of the submission.
We encourage the use of our submission templates for applicable data types to ensure the fastest submission and curation process.
Submission Workflow
Data can be submitted for long-term archiving with DOIs in the EarthChem Library (ECL) Repository. Please review the ECL General Guidelines and Policies before submitting a dataset.
To ensure your geochemical tephra data is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) please document the following:
You must provide information regarding how your data were collected. The method template can be registered with a DOI once to document your laboratory procedures. It can be reused in future work by citing the DOI in the data template.
To catalog metadata and receive unique identifiers for samples that you own, please submit sample metadata for registration and sample cataloging in SESAR.
If you are not registering samples in SESAR, you must include the sample template in your ECL data submission to provide sample metadata.
Data templates are meant to facilitate and standardize data reporting.
Before you submit your data to the EarthChem Library, please ensure that you have the relevant method and sample information, as outlined above.
Submission Templates
Submission Templates
- We strongly recommend the use of data submission templates, tailored for specific data types, to ensure reproducibility of the data and easy conversion to machine-readable formats.
- Templates are available for various data types such as bulk analysis (majors, traces, isotopes), mineral analysis (in-situ analysis), and melt inclusion analysis.
- Review the Submission Templates page using and accessing the appropriate template.
- If a template does not yet exist for your data type, you may contact us about creating one at info@earthchem.org.
Metadata Requirements & Best Practices
Required Data & Metadata
- All analytes, units, technique, instrument, and laboratory must be clearly stated and defined. Relevant standards, reference measurements, and additional information about instrument calibration should also be included when possible.
- Every analyte must be linked to a sample with a sample name and geospatial information (unless not applicable, i.e. experimental samples).
- We strongly recommend the use of IGSNs (International Generic Sample Number) as persistent identifiers to identify samples. Obtain IGSNs by registering samples in the System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR).
Metadata Best Practices
- Your dataset title must contain concise and descriptive information about the content of the dataset (the “what” and “where”, for example “Gakkel Ridge basalt melt inclusion and mineral chemistry”). If submitting data from a publication, the dataset title may be the same as your publication title, but can be different since your ECL dataset will paint a different story than your full publication.
- Your abstract must describe in full sentences the measurements, location, and purpose of the dataset. The abstract should be <250 words and different from your related publication abstract. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms. Include relevant keywords, such as the geographic area or cruise or field program name, for example “This dataset presents analyses of volatile, major, and trace elements for a suite of glasses and melt inclusions from the 85 degrees E segment of the ultra-slow spreading Gakkel Ridge”.
- In general, strive to ensure that your metadata is correct, complete, concise, and descriptive
- Include as much documentation as possible, taking particular care to include unique identifiers such as IGSNs, related publication DOIs, volcano numbers, cruise DOIs, etc.
- We strongly encourage US-based researchers to link their NSF award numbers with their ECL datasets. This will allow tracking of datasets by award number and demonstrate compliance with Data Management policies of funding agencies.
- Ensure your uploaded file is in its final form – the EarthChem Library is a long-term repository, treat the dataset submission like a journal article submission. Once a file has been released for public access, it cannot be changed, instead you would have to publish a new version with a new DOI.
Required File Formats
- Review ECL's list of accepted file formats prior to submission. If the data type of your submission does not align with a pre-existing template, the data submission must be supplied in one of the acceptable file formats.
- [THIS SHOULD BE MOVED TO THE FILE FORMAT PAGE] If you are submitting tabular data an ECL template is strongly encouraged must at the very least be in a .csv, .txt, or .xlsx file (not in .pdf, .docx, .jpeg, etc.). For more information on file formats please consult our file policies.
References
- If submitting a compilation dataset, the ECL requires a reference sheet or tab with full citations of all referred publications.
Selecting A Release Date
By default, the release date of your dataset is set to the date of submission. However, the data contributor may select to embargo the submitted data files for up to two years from the date of submission. Datasets with a delayed release date have landing pages and are searchable in the ECL even though the associated data files are not available for download. This is to ensure compliance with data management policies of funding agencies without releasing the data files upon registration of the DOI.
Data Licensing
Data contributors have 4 data file license options to choose from for preserving and enabling continuing access and use of data and related information. Selecting an open access license (marked with an asterisk, below) is strongly encouraged. The license selection is displayed on the landing page of a given dataset.
Incorporating Datasets in PetDB
PetDB is a searchable database of published geochemical data for igneous and metamorphic rocks. If you are submitting a geochemical dataset to EarthChem Library derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks you may also suggest your dataset for inclusion in PetDB. PetDB only includes geochemical data that has been published. This includes data from peer-reviewed publications and data that has been published online through the minting of a dataset DOI (such as the ones provided by the EarthChem Library).
If an EarthChem Library dataset is suggested for PetDB by the contributor and has a related manuscript that is in preparation or under review, the dataset will be reviewed for inclusion in PetDB upon publication of the related manuscript. A dataset submitted to the EarthChem Library without a related publication is immediately available for consideration.
Not all datasets submitted to the ECL qualify for inclusion into the PetDB Synthesis, even if the inclusion was requested by the data contributor. If you have questions as to why your dataset was or was not synthesized into PetDB, please reach out to the ECL Curation Team at info@earthchem.org.
