Guide for publishing biological survey data to GBIF open for community review

GBIF has released the Guide for Publishing Biological Survey Data to GBIF as a tool to support data holders in structuring and making their biological survey data openly accessible.

Biological survey data are essential for providing a long-term view of global biodiversity trends at both micro and macro scales but access to structured, open-access data is often challenging. This new guide supports those working with biodiversity survey information with step-by-step instructions for implementing the Darwin Core (DwC) data standard in accordance with the FAIR data principles—findability, accessibility, interoperability and reproducibility. Specifically, users will find support for mapping their data as a DwC Event class dataset, including an overview of the primary components of biodiversity survey data in the context of the DwC standard, DwC Events and the Humboldt Extension for ecological inventories as well as guidance in structuring it as a DwC Archive ready for publication to GBIF.

The guide is suitable for researchers and other professionals in ecology, biological monitoring, environmental assessments and data management who are seeking to standardize and share systematically collected, quantitative biodiversity survey and monitoring data for publication to GBIF.

"The guide for publishing biological survey data supports GBIF’s priority to increase the representation and discoverability of systematically recorded biodiversity datasets mediated by GBIF," said Kate Ingenloff, GBIF scientific officer. "The guide helps holders of ecological datasets - those datasets with documented information about survey structure, sampling methods, effort, abundance, and/or taxonomic scope —to become familiar with GBIF and provides support for the implementation of the Darwin Core Event Core and Humboldt Extension to Darwin Core standard."

Community review of this guide is open until 20 July 2025.

Access the Guide for publishing biological survey data to GBIF

How do I participate in the community peer review?

Community members interested in contributing to the peer-review process of this guide are encouraged to review the overview of the digital documentation programme along with specific instructions and expectations on how to provide suggestions and improvements.

To contribute suggestions as a reviewer, we ask community members to:
• Create a GitHub account (see video how-to).
• Review the guide the document Guide for publishing biological survey data to GBIF
• Log your suggestions by creating or commenting on issues on GitHub (see video how-to)
• Start, follow and support discussions on the GBIF Community Forum.

Please remember that all interactions within this process must adhere to the GBIF Code of Conduct, which aims to encourage a safe, welcoming and productive environment that is professional, respectful and free from harassment for all participating.

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