Describing data
Completing the Dryad submission checklist requires describing and categorizing your data to make it possible for other researchers to discover, understand, and reuse the data.
Description
On the Description screen of the Dryad submission editor, you are required to complete an Abstract for your data submission. The Abstract is the most prominent textual description on each published dataset and should briefly summarize the dataset’s structure and concepts.
Optionally, you may also enter a Methods section to describe how your data was collected and processed.
You may also be invited to complete a form for Subject Specific Metadata. Subject Specific Metadata is available via templates and an editor from CEDAR, and will be uploaded to your final dataset as a JSON file. The availability of templates depends on your subject area.
Subjects
On the Subjects screen of the Dryad submission editor, you are required to enter subject keywords that will be used to categorize your data for search and discovery.
At least one subject must be selected from our list of Research domains, which come from the OECD Fields of Science and Technology. These are very general categories for the main scholarly or technical fields for the data or project. More than one may be selected for interdisciplinary projects.
For more specific categorization of your data, more specific keywords, including scientific names, method types, or keywords from your related article, may also be selected or entered. At least 3 are required in addition to the Research domain.
Support
On the Support screen of the Dryad submission editor, you may enter information about the sources of support for your research.
If there was a field station or other organization where research was conducted that is not already included in your author affiliations, that institution can be entered under Research facility. Institutions are retrieved from ROR (Research Organization Registry), and can be searched by name or by ROR ID URL (for example, https://ror.org/00x6h5n95). Institution names not found on ROR can also be entered.
Any Funding sources supporting your research can be listed. For each award, the granting organization name is required, and additional information about the award may also be included.
Compliance
On the Compliance screen of the Dryad submission editor, you are required to enter information confirming and explaining that your data meets Dryad publication requirements. You must read and agree to our Licensing and Human subjects data requirements.
Dryad data is licensed as Public domain. Data that comes from a source that is copyrighted cannot be published on Dryad. Note that data published on open-access sites or by journals does not guarantee that it is licensed under CC0. For example, sources may allow for data reuse but could require a citation (i.e., Attribution).
Any human subjects data must be properly anonymized and prepared under applicable legal and ethical guidelines. Dryad cannot publish any direct identifiers or more than three indirect identifiers. Please see our human subjects guidance for a non-exhaustive list of direct and indirect identifiers.
Data involving threatened species or sensitive habitats must also be appropriate for the public domain. See our guidance for species data for information about masking threatened species data.
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