Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)
Published March 3, 2026 | Version v4
Publication Open

Publishing Open Research Using Physical Samples: Guidance for Authors

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • 2. ROR icon University of Arizona
  • 3. ROR icon Oregon State University
  • 4. ROR icon Joint Genome Institute
  • 5. ROR icon Columbia University
  • 6. ROR icon DataCite
  • 7. Geological Survey of Alabama
  • 8. ROR icon University of Aruba
  • 9. ROR icon Earth Science Information Partners

Description

Material samples are foundational for research across a wide range of biological, environmental, and other interdisciplinary sciences. Their value and the value of the data derived from them depend to a large extent on the way we describe, identify, and reference them in publications and datasets. Use of globally unique and persistent sample identifiers and availability of rich and consistent information (metadata and data) about a sample on the web are critical for making samples and sample data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). This guide presents best practices for supporting open science for samples, developed by the Physical Sample Curation Cluster of the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) organization. Following this guidance will help ensure that we are able to track use of samples over time, which enables reproducible research, future data integration, reuse, and credit. The ESIP Physical Sample Curation Cluster is a forum for the community supporting physical samples in the earth, space, and environmental sciences. The working group consists of individual researchers who collect and work with physical samples, curators and collections managers, and cyberinfrastructure providers and developers.

Note: v1-v3 of this resource were published in Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24669057.

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ESIP_SamplesGuide_2026.pdf

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Additional details

Related works

Is new version of
Publication: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24669057.v3 (DOI)

Funding

Department of Energy and Environment
DOE OSB DE-AC02-05CH11231
U.S. National Science Foundation
Collaborative Research: Facility: Next Generation Interoperable Data Infrastructure for Geoscience Sample Data (EarthChem, LEPR/traceDs, SESAR): IEDA Re-invented 2148939