{"id":6365,"date":"2025-06-06T17:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/?p=6365"},"modified":"2025-06-21T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T13:20:01","slug":"guidelines-for-reviewers-how-to-review-a-database-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/2025\/06\/06\/guidelines-for-reviewers-how-to-review-a-database-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidelines for reviewers: How to review a database paper?"},"content":{"rendered":"<script type='text\/javascript' src='https:\/\/d1bxh8uas1mnw7.cloudfront.net\/assets\/embed.js'><\/script><p><a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6367 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper-300x195.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper-1024x664.png 1024w, https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper-768x498.png 768w, https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper-640x415.png 640w, https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Image-Blog_2025_Polo-Villanueva-et-al_DataPaper.png 1184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Database papers aim at describing a dataset made available to a larger community. Database papers are a scientific valuable production and should provide all required information for a large use of the data. The database paper should be completed by a metadata file that describes the dataset, and by the dataset itself, made available in an open repository.<\/p>\n<p>Reviewers will carefully consider: <em>(a)<\/em> the quality of the manuscript, <em>(b) <\/em>the quality, completeness and reusability of the dataset, and <em>(c) <\/em>the relevance of the dataset and its potential contribution to the progress of science.<\/p>\n<p>They will not review the whole data set, whose quality is under the responsibility of the authors (see our related blog post \u201c<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inra.fr\/afs\/2019\/07\/24\/guidelines-for-authors-how-to-share-your-datasets\/\">Guidelines for authors: how to share your datasets?<\/a>\u201d<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Contrary to our general procedure for other paper types, the procedure for database papers is only single-blind (the reviewers see the names of the authors).<\/p>\n<p>This text is an update of the previous blog on the guidelines for reviewer for the data papers in AFS (<a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/2019\/08\/23\/guidelines-for-reviewers-how-to-review-a-data-paper\/\">https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/2019\/08\/23\/guidelines-for-reviewers-how-to-review-a-data-paper\/<\/a> )<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b><span style=\"color: #008000\">Quality of the manuscript<\/span> <\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Usual criteria for assessing manuscript quality including style, consistency, clarity. The review will address following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is a <strong>DOI<\/strong> provided for the database and is the dataset accessible via the given identifier?<\/li>\n<li>Is the <strong>metadata<\/strong> template filled out as recommended?<\/li>\n<li>Do <strong>title<\/strong> and <strong>key message<\/strong> accurately reflect the content of the database paper?<\/li>\n<li>Is the database paper internally <strong>consistent<\/strong>, suitably <strong>organized<\/strong> and written in proper English?<\/li>\n<li>Are relevant <strong>non-textual media<\/strong> (e.g. tables, figures) appropriate?<\/li>\n<li>Have <strong>abbreviations<\/strong> and <strong>symbols<\/strong> been properly defined?<\/li>\n<li>Is the <strong>context<\/strong> of prior research properly described, citing relevant articles and datasets?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #008000\"><b>Quality<\/b><b> of the <\/b><b>dataset<\/b><br \/>\n<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Although publication of a database paper does not guarantee the overall quality of the dataset, there is a need to check whether suitable and reproducible methods have been used to obtain the data, and whether the data are displayed in a sensible way. The dataset must be a long-term resource, stable, complete, permanent and of good quality. The review will address following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are the data <strong>logically<\/strong> and <strong>consistently<\/strong> organised? Are they easily <strong>readable<\/strong> and <strong>usable<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Is anything missing in the manuscript or the data resource itself that would prevent <strong>replication <\/strong>of the measurements, <strong>reproduction<\/strong> of the figures or other representations?<\/li>\n<li>Are the <strong>methods<\/strong> used to generate the data (including calibration, code and suitable controls) described in <strong>sufficient detail<\/strong> and suitable to maintain of integrity of the dataset?<\/li>\n<li>Have possible <strong>sources of error<\/strong> (including methods, calculation and interpretation) been appropriately addressed in the protocols and\/ or the paper?<\/li>\n<li>Are the data consistent internally and described using <strong>applicable standards<\/strong> (e.g. in terms of file formats, file names, file size, units and metadata)?<\/li>\n<li>Does the manuscript provide an accurate description of the data? And how to <strong>access<\/strong> them (e.g. link and\/or data access policy)?<\/li>\n<li>Are the<strong> methods<\/strong> used to process and analyse the raw data <strong>appropriate<\/strong>? Are they sufficiently well documented that they could be <strong>repeated<\/strong> by third parties? Accepted formats are: 1) datasets, deposited additionally to scientific datasets in the repository; 2) links to online published papers; 3) a section in the body of the manuscript dedicated to material and method.<\/li>\n<li>Are the data files complete and match the description in the <strong>Metadata<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b><span style=\"color: #008000\">Utility and contribution of data set<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Does the data resource cover a scientifically important region(s), time period(s) and\/or group(s) of taxa to be worthy of a <strong>separate publication<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Is the dataset sufficiently <strong>original <\/strong>to merit publication as a database paper?<\/li>\n<li>Is there any potential of the data being <strong>useful<\/strong> in the future?<\/li>\n<li>Are the <strong>use cases<\/strong> described in the database paper consistent with the data presented? Would other possible use cases merit comments in the paper?<\/li>\n<li>Are all <strong>conclusions <\/strong>made in the database paper substantiated by the underlying data?<\/li>\n<li>Are the<strong> depth<\/strong>, <strong>coverage<\/strong>, <strong>size<\/strong>, and\/or <strong>completeness <\/strong>of the data sufficient for the types of application or research questions outlined by the authors?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Contact us for more information at <a href=\"mailto:annforsci@inra.fr\">annforsci@inrae.fr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Read the related posts on our blogs:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inra.fr\/afs\/2019\/07\/18\/annals-of-forest-science-promotes-open-science-by-publishing-data-papers\/\"><em>Annals of Forest Science promotes Open Science by publishing data papers<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inra.fr\/afs\/2019\/07\/24\/guidelines-for-authors-how-to-share-your-datasets\/\"><em>Guidelines for authors: how to share your datasets?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inra.fr\/afs\/2015\/11\/20\/publishing-data-papers-in-annals-of-forest-science-detailed-guidelines-for-a-smooth-preparation-and-submission\/\"><em>Publishing data papers in Annals of forest science: detailed guidelines for a smooth preparation and submission<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"title single-title\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Database papers aim at describing a dataset made available to a larger community. Database papers are a scientific valuable production and should provide all required information for a large use of the data. The database paper should be completed by a metadata file that describes the dataset, and by the dataset itself, made available in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-board-2","category-posts-edited-by-editors","category-for-referees","cat-3-id","cat-6-id","cat-42-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6365"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6374,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365\/revisions\/6374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/afs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}