“Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or information about information.” It ensures that the context for how your data was created, analysed and stored, is clear, detailed and therefore, reproducible.
National Information Standards Organization, 2004
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Metadata Schemas
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MIBBI – Minimum Information for Biological Investigators (portal to over 40 biomedical data standards)
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OME – Open Microscopy Environment – Data Model and File Formats 6.2.0 (microscopy data)
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Protocol Data Elements Definitions (clinical trials data)
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Digital Curation Centre’s list of Disciplinary Metadata Standards
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Data Documentation Initiative (social sciences data)
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Dublin Core (general)
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Darwin Core (Biological Data)
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Structuring Metadata
- ISA-Tab (“omics-based” biological data)
- ISA-Tab (“omics-based” biological data)
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Additional Resources
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FAIRSharing.org (informational resource on data standards, databases, and data policies)
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DOI.org (digital object identifier)
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Harvard Medical School LINCS Project Metadata Standards and NIH LINCS Project metadata standards (metadata standards implemented in the Harvard Medical School LINCS Center Database
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National Information Standards Organization (NISO)'s Understanding Metadata (2017)
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