Article
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Guidelines for a Standardized File Structure for Scientific Data
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Version 1
: Received: 2 April 2020 / Approved: 3 April 2020 / Online: 3 April 2020 (15:56:22 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Abstract
Storing scientific data on the file system in a meaningful and transparent way is no trivial task. In particular when the data have to be accessed after their originator has left the lab the importance of a standardized file structure cannot be underestimated. It is desirable to have a structure that allows for the unique categorization of all kinds of data from experimental results to publications. It has to be accessible to a broad variety of workflows, e.g., via graphical user interface as well as via command line, in order to find widespread acceptance. Furthermore, the inclusion of already existing data has to be as simple as possible. We propose a three-level structure to organize and store scientific data that incorporates the full chain of scientific data management from data acquisition to analysis to publications. Metadata are saved in a standardized way and connect original data to analyses and publication as well as to their originators. A simple software tool to check a file structure for compliance with the proposed structure is presented.
Supplementary and Associated Material
https://gitlab.com/salexan/check-sfs: Compliance checker for proposed file structure
Keywords
research data management; FAIR; file structure; file system
Subject
Computer Science and Mathematics, Information Systems
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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