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Research data support at the Bolin Centre

Data contribution form

Table of Contents

  1. Consent
    1. Personal information consent
    2. Data publication consent
  2. Basic information
    1. Name
    2. Title
    3. Summary
    4. Creator
  3. Contact information
    1. First name
    2. Last name or organisation
    3. Email address
    4. Address
    5. City
    6. Postal code
    7. Province or state
    8. Country
  4. Data
    1. Files
    2. Data consent
    3. Data web address
  5. Data information
    1. Data description
    2. Version
    3. Project
    4. References
    5. Keywords
    6. Category
    7. Sub-category
    8. GCMD science keyword
    9. GCMD location
  6. Additional information
    1. Comments
    2. License
    3. Publisher
    4. Website address
    5. Dataset language
    6. Begin date
    7. End date
    8. Estimated publication date
    9. Updates
  7. Curator metadata
    1. Version history
    2. Data size limit
    3. Citation
    4. Free content
    5. JavaScript code
    6. Coordinates
    7. Short title
    8. Topic
    9. Dataset image
    10. References related
    11. External
    12. Waiting
    13. Next step
    14. Curation status

2. Basic information

Name
Name of dataset

This is a string that will be used in the dataset’s web address and DOI.

It has the form [prefix]-[label] where prefix normally is [creatorslastname]-[publicationyear].

Structure for names
  • [prefix]-[label]
Prefix

We have four main types of prefixes:

  • Not in collection
    • Normal cases
      • [creatorslastname-publicationyear] e.g.
        • martens-2024
        • krishnan-2025
    • Special cases
      • [specialcasename] e.g.
        • miocene-temperature-portal
        • ibcao
  • In collection
    • Linked to an organization
      • [collectionname]e.g.
        • tarfala
        • oden-data-repository
    • Linked to an individual scientist
      • [collectionname-creatorslastname-publicationyear] e.g.
        • tarfala-kirchner-2025
Label

Usually one or two words (with a hyphen in between, it can be more than two words if necessary) that briefly describes the data. The words should be of the following kind:

  • geographic location
  • period
  • other data specification
  • a combination of the above

Examples:

  • pollen
  • nutrients
  • soil
  • lateglacial-climate
  • baltic-bioaerosols
  • contaminant-monitoring
  • lake-temperature
  • store-mosse
  • bronze-age
  • ice-off-2024

In some special cases, the name only consists of a prefix but has no label.

Good to think about
  • Try to use the same or similar labels as for other similar datasets.
  • Check if a researcher has previously published data. Reuse the same label when relevant.
  • Datasets in collections should normally have a label that starts with the label of the collection.
  • For datasets in collections, especially from Oden expeditions and Tarfala research station, choose labels that are as consistent as possible.
  • Datasets in collections (especially Oden and Tarfala) normally have one of the following two combinations of [prefix]-[label]:
    • [collectionname]-[dataspecification]
    • [collectionname-creatorslastname-publicationyear]-[dataspecification]
      Use the latter when the data is more clearly linked to the researcher than to the organization behind the collection.
  • For datasets in Oden data repository, the collectionname should have the following structure:
    • oden-[expeditionshortname]-[expeditionyear]
Examples of names
Title
Title of dataset.

Choose a title that is likely to be understood by colleagues, students and if possible even the general public and not only those who are experts on the subject (max 128 characters). The title should contain the following information whenever relevant:

  1. What has been recorded?
  2. Where were the data collected?
  3. When were the data collected or what time period in the past does the data represent?
Style rules
  • Time intervals: e.g. 1979 – 2021
    • note: En-dash surrounded by hair spaces
    • (not: from 1979 to 2021)
  • Whenever possible: first place, then time (e.g. Stockholm, 1979 – 2021)
  • Avoid parentheses in titles, use commas instead if possible
  • Parentheses may be used when needed for clarity
  • Avoid colon in titles, use EM-dash instead
  • Subscripts, superscripts, greek letters, etc. for chemical compounds and similar (e.g. CO₂, N₂O, δ¹⁸O, δ²H)
Examples
Summary
Brief description of dataset

Provide a short general description of the dataset that allows others to easily understand what your data is about and to determine if the dataset is useful for their needs.

Please, write three paragraphs of maximum two sentences each, addressing the following questions:

  1. What (general information — what has been recorded and what form does the data take?)
  2. Why (scientific value — why were the data collected or generated? what can it be used for?)
  3. Where, when, how (practical information — where, when and how were the data collected or generated? which time period and/or region does the data represent? is the data spatially gridded or scattered? which method was used?)

The text should be concise but should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to ascertain rapidly the scope and limitations of the resource, even if the person is not an expert in the field (e.g. students and even the general public).

Examples:

Creator
Name of all persons who have developed the dataset

Provide given name and last name of all relevant persons who have helped to create the dataset, and who should be mentioned when the dataset is cited.

Example of roles of persons to be included:

  • project PI, data processors, data analysts, instrument operators, instrument designers, model developers, etc.

Separate persons by commas. Follow this example:

  • Maria S. Brown, Jin-Tao Li, John Smith, Joan E. Anderson

3. Contact information

First name
First name (given name) of the contact person for the dataset
Last name or organisation
Last name (surname) of the contact person for the dataset

Or, if the contact is not a person, provide the name of the contact organisation. In this case, no first name should be provided.

Email address
Email address to the contact person (or organisation)
Address
Name of department and organisation to which the contact person is affiliated

Examples:

  • Department of Physical Geography; Stockholm University
  • Department of Earth Sciences; Uppsala University
  • School of Earth and Environment; University of Leeds
City
For example, Stockholm
Postal code
For example, `SE-106 91`

Note: All departments at Stockholm University have SE-106 91 as postal code.

Province or state
Provide when relevant
Country
For example, Sweden

4. Data

Files
Select the data files for your dataset
csv comma-separated values
  • Column headers should be short.
  • Units are not needed in column headers.
  • Preferably only small letters a-z, numbers 0-9, underscores and hyphens in column headers.
  • Preferably comma as value separator, but semicolon is also accepted.
  • Period (not comma) should be used as decimal separator.
xlsx spreadsheet
  • Same as for csv, see above (but treatment of decimal separator is irrelevant for xlsx)
  • Only pure data and column headers.
  • No text formatting in colour, bold style, etc., or other visually "attractive" formatting.
  • Preferably only small letters a-z, numbers 0-9, underscores and hyphens in sheet names.
  • We suggest that also one csv is provided for each individual sheet, in order to make it more accessible for machine reading and for opening in a basic text editor.
nc netCDF
tiff GeoTIFF
Images
  • jpeg
  • tiff
  • Preferably short but descriptive, e.g.
    • tarfala-monthly-temperature.csv
    • oden-sas-2021-morphotype-count.xlsx
  • Use only small letters a-z, numbers 0-9, underscores and hyphens.
  • We do NOT accept other characters in file names, e.g. spaces or parentheses.

Similar as above for file names.

Data web address
Web address for the data file, if it is stored outside the Bolin Centre Database

5. Data information

Data description
Technical description and information about the dataset and data files

This should include brief information about file types, file sizes, number of files, file content, file structure, etc. Provide all information that is essential for future users to understand your data.

You can use Markdown syntax to format the text.

Examples:

Data files
  • Each file (or directory) should be described under a heading consisting of name (within backticks) and short description.
  • In case of many files (or directories), the information can be provided summarically, not necessarily with all details.
File content details

Data file content should be described, preferably with variable names.

  • Provide a bullet or numbered list of all column headers in csvand xlsx files, or analogously for the content in nc files.
  • Provide the following information for each header:
    • header string within backticks
    • unit of measurement (within parentheses)
    • physical quantity [within brackets], if desired
    • short, but sufficient, explanation of the data content.
Text formatting
  • Use backticks to highlight file names, variable names, etc.
  • Avoid long text paragraphs because they are difficult to read.
    • Break down text in shorter paragraphs.
    • Headings (written in Markdown) can also help to improve readability.
  • Spell out full names of other datasets in the Bolin Centre Database and assign hyperlinks to the full titles, instead of writing that some data can be found "here".
  • It is also possible to provide the full reference to another dataset in the section References and refer to it in the text by writing, e.g., dataset by Krishnan et al. (2025).
  • Use italics instead of quotation marks (except for quotes)
  • Use superscript characters instead of ^^ whenever possible.
Version
Dataset version

We recommend version number 1, 2, 3, etc., but e.g. 1.0.0 or 2.3 can be allowed if necessary.

  • A dataset must have a version string.

  • A slug for a particular version of a dataset has the structure:

    • [name-versionstring]

  • This type of slug is used in the web address of a dataset and is also used as suffix in the DOI that is assigned to a dataset version.

  • We recommend always letting the first version have the version string 1, and later versions will be 2, 3, etc. But if there is a good reason for different numbering, e.g. like 3.1, or even including using letters, there is no technical obstacle to it.

Examples of slugs
Project
Information about the research project

Provide name and other information about the research project(s) within which the dataset was developed.

This can be e.g. funder, grant no., PI, etc.

References
References to scientific papers that describe the data and/or other literature referred to in the metadata
  • Separate multiple references by a new line.
  • Include a DOI address for each paper whenever this is available. Write it after the actual reference. Do not end with a period.
  • Correctly formatted references can usually be obtained by entering only the DOI for each paper and then pressing the 'Convert dois' button below the text box.
  • Caution: The automatically converted reference can sometimes be incomplete or even incorrect. When needed, a converted reference can be edited manually afterwards in the text box.

Examples:

  • Hällberg PL, Smittenberg R, Kylander ME, Villanueva J, Davtian N, Hapsari A, Sjöström JK, Axelsson J, Jarne-Bueno G, Yamoah K, Rifai H, Schenk F (2024) Disentangling seasonal and annual precipitation signals in the tropics over the Holocene: Insights from δD, alkanes and GDGTs. Quaternary Science Reviews 344:108948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108948
  • Martens J, Tesi T, Rusakov V, Semiletov I, Dudarev O, Gustafsson Ö (2024) Off‐Shelf transport and biogeochemical cycling of terrestrial organic carbon along the East Siberian continental margin. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 38:e2024GB008104. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gb008104
Article

Our preferred reference format is springer-basic-author-date-no-et-al (en-GB), which is used by e.g. Climate Dynamics and other Springer journals.

Example:

  • Lear CH, Coxall HK, Foster GL, Lunt DJ, Mawbey EM, Rosenthal Y, Sosdian SM, Thomas E, Wilson PA (2015) Neogene ice volume and ocean temperatures: Insights from infaunal foraminiferal Mg/Ca paleothermometry. Paleoceanography 30:1437–1454. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015PA002833
Unpublished manuscript

Example:

  • Ferasat Z, Panahi R, Mokhtarani B (2019) Natural polymer matrix as safe flocculant to remove turbidity from kaolin suspension: Performance and governing mechanism. [Manuscript in preparation]. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge.

The example above is re-worked based on an example from the library at The University of Melbourne.

Dataset

Similar to the style for articles, but should include [Dataset], version number (when existing), and name of data publisher.

Example:

  • Sosdian S, Coxall H, Steinthorsdottir M, Lawrence K (2024) Miocene temperature portal. [Dataset]. Version 3. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/miocene-temperature-portal-3
Keywords
Enter some informative keywords, of your own free choice

One single keyword can contain several proper words. Separate keywords by semicolon and space. The first letter in each keyword should be a capital letter.

Examples:

  • Microclimate; Temperature; Humidity; Ethiopia; Emission scenarios; Agroforestry; Climate change
  • Biomarkers; Leaf waxes; Southeast Asia; Stable isotopes; Organic geochemistry; Paleoclimatology
Category
Choose the most relevant category in the list
Sub-category
Choose the most relevant sub-category in the list

You may choose "other" and then enter a new sub-category.

GCMD science keyword
Choose the most relevant line with keywords in the list

The list derives from the Global Change Master Directory.

GCMD location
Choose the most relevant location in the list

The list derives from the Global Change Master Directory.

6. Additional information

Comments
Any additional useful comments

This can e.g. be names, affiliations and roles of persons involved in creating the dataset, or any additional information of relevance to understand the dataset, spatial coverage, why it was created, what it can be used for, instruments or methods used, data quality assessment, etc.

The comments may be separated into several paragraphs, with individual short titles. You can use Markdown syntax to format the text.

Examples:

Text formatting
  • Avoid long text paragraphs because they are difficult to read.
    • Break down text in shorter paragraphs.
    • Headings (written in Markdown) can also help to improve readability.
  • Spell out full names of other datasets in the Bolin Centre Database and assign hyperlinks to the full titles, instead of writing that some data can be found "here".
  • It is also possible to provide the full reference to another dataset in the section References and refer to it in the text by writing, e.g., dataset by Krishnan et al. (2025).
  • Use italics instead of quotation marks (except for quotes)
  • Use superscript characters instead of ^^ whenever possible.
License
Choose a license for your dataset

We recommend Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) v1.0 for data that comply with the Open Definition.

However, you are free to choose any of the listed licenses or any other suitable license that comply with the Stockholm University Open Science Policy.

Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By)

For data that are compatible with the Open Definition, we recommend ODC-By.

“Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose”.

  • Examples of data file types: csv, nc, xlsx, txt.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

A dataset that is compatible with ODC-By, is most often also compatible with CC-BY 4.0. If a scientist for some good reason prefers CC-BY 4.0 even when ODC-By would apply, the scientist can freely choose CC-BY 4.0.

We recommend the CC-BY 4.0 license for most cases when ODC-By does not apply. In particular, we recommend CC-BY when the data consist of image files or native data formats that require commercial software for using the data.

  • Examples of data file types: matlab structs (mat), image files (jpg, tif)
Other license

The scientist is free to choose any other license that is applicable both with the actual data and the Stockholm University Open Science Policy.

Publisher
Name of the repository where the data is published

Bolin Centre Database is default, but the name of another repository should be entered if the dataset is published elsewhere.

Examples of external repositories:

  • Zenodo
  • Dryad
  • PANGAEA
  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information

Examples:

Website address
Optional web address for a web site for the dataset, if it exists
Dataset language
Language (usually English) used in the data and metadata
Begin date
Enter a start date if the dataset covers a well-defined time period in calendar dates
End date
Enter a stop date if the dataset covers a well-defined time period in calendar dates
Estimated publication date
Approximate date when you wish to publish the dataset
Updates
Short text about updates of data or metadata since previous revision

7. Curator metadata

Version history
Change log describing the differences between the dataset versions
Data size limit
Data size in GB limit larger than the default one. Valid 1 day.
Citation
Citation string of how to cite dataset, for cases when the data is published outside the Bolin Centre Database
Free content
Free content in HTML code
JavaScript code
JavaScript code for Free content
Coordinates
Geographic objects in [WKT format](http://postgis.net/docs/using_postgis_dbmanagement.html#OpenGISWKBWKT).

Objects are separated by newline charachters. An additional column with label can be added separated by tab character. Coordinate-pairs are longitude and latitude separated by space. E.g.

POINT(13.1 57.2)
LINESTRING(0 0,1 1,1 2)
POLYGON((0 0,4 0,4 4,0 4,0 0),(1 1, 2 1, 2 2, 1 2,1 1))
MULTIPOINT((0 0),(1 2))
MULTILINESTRING((0 0,1 1,1 2),(2 3,3 2,5 4))
MULTIPOLYGON(((0 0,4 0,4 4,0 4,0 0),(1 1,2 1,2 2,1 2,1 1)), ((-1 -1,-1 -2,-2 -2,-2 -1,-1 -1)))
GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(2 3),LINESTRING(2 3,3 4))

Short title
Simplified title
Topic
Dataset topic in Oden Data Repository
  • Meteorology, Marine geology, Oceanography, Biogeochemistry, Biology, Other
Dataset image
Beautiful image to attract users What is this?

This is probably meant for references to articles or datasets that are directly related to the current dataset.

External
What is this?

This is probably meant for references to other articles (e.g. about methods or instruments) that are referred to in the metdata.

Waiting
Status of what curator is waiting for
Next step
Next step in the curation process
Curation status
Status of curation process