Executive Summary

Introduction

The Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP) is a NSF-funded Science and Technology Center that promotes a mechanistic understanding of the chemical currencies in microbial ecosystems in the context of a changing planet and through increased participation in ocean science. Open science is a foundational, essential, and uniting component of C-CoMP’s research and knowledge transfer. As such, C-CoMP is committed to sharing all aspects of the research process in a timely manner to advance transparency and reproducibility in science, share knowledge, stimulate data integration efforts, and encourage others in the field of ocean science to participate in the open science movement.

Challenges for Open Science

• C-CoMP generates observational, experimental, simulated, and derived data in both standard and non-standard formats using a variety of different methodologies, sample sources, and file naming conventions.

• There are no centralized repositories to store and curate such a diversity of data types.

• C-CoMP is composed of individual lab groups that already follow their own procedures for sharing data.

• There are various levels of risk associated with releasing data prior to article publication and this risk level changes with career stage.

Solutions for Open Science

This living handbook presents Center-wide solutions for the challenges listed above and guidance for implementing C-CoMP’s Open Science Policy. This handbook is a living document; we expect to update this handbook as the Center ages.

• The implementation of C-CoMP’s open science framework centers around the Data Roadmap, a general plan that outlines the data life cycle from initial study ideation through data deposition.

• C-CoMP uses standardized file naming conventions to facilitate internal and external data sharing.

• C-CoMP uses the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) repository to organize, describe, and store metadata and tabular data for all datasets; domain-specific datasets will be linked to the relevant BCO-DMO metadata landing pages using accession numbers.

• C-CoMP tracks all datasets by assigning internal dataset numbers and other metadata in the C-CoMP Data Catalog.

• C-CoMP expects timely submission of research products to publicly accessible repositories as defined in the data roadmap and open science policy. That being said, C-CoMP has included a moderate option for sharing intermediate research products with specific requestors during data analysis and prior to the onset of writing.