Our new paper paper about EcoNAOS project, a sort of manifesto of our research, is now out!

In the paper are reported which are the main phases of EcoNAOS project and the influence of Open Science is evidenced at any step. Moreover the focus is on the implementation of these phases, puttting into practice our “research ideas”.

The work is then subdivided in 6 tasks, some of them are subsequent, others are crosscutting the entire life cycle:

  1. Database correction and harmonisation: the first datasets were recorded on board journals, only in 1990 all data was channeled into an unique spreadsheet. Transcription operation led to errors in sample points positioning (some of them fell out of North Adriatic zone) and the same sampling stations changed their name in time. Before doing any other operation, we need to correct these data in the way that pionts fall into the North Adriatic Sea and we have only one name for each sampling station.
  2. Metadata collection: since the database has a temporal range of 50 years (1965-2015) it is reasonable that calculation methods nd instruments changed in time. Often also unit of measure changed with the instruments. All these elements infer on data reliability and the estimated instrumental error changes. At this purpose, it is fundamental to collect any possible metadata.
  3. Data sharing using GET-IT: as part of sharing project, it is foreseen data sharing by means of GET-IT infrastructure, designed in the wider RITMARE project. The platform allows data upload operation, data query, shows time series of data for a specific parameter, sampling station and instrument.
  4. Research output publication: due to the project nature, we want to share not only project results but also idea and advancement stages, and not only in the paper form but also data, metadata and code. Moreover, we want to schedule some sharing moments with other researchers potentially involved in the project or sharing interests in marine research and Open Science.
  5. Data citation and versioning: since our database is evolving, it has special needs in order to be cited and versioned. Classical database citation starts to have established rules (even if there’s still no standard), but for evolving databases there are few experiences and some attempts to manage the whole operation. Moreover the citation and versioning system must manage persistent queries and aggregated data.
  6. Guidelines release: after the whole project is developed we manage to write some detailed database in order to better explain all the process and its realisation.

Another innovative point is the usage of the “research ideas” format, which is particularly interesting also in the context of the research project itself. In fact, the research ideas can be considered both an input of the process and an output (it is indeed a research product). Moreover, the chosen journal RIO (Research Ideas and Outcomes), is Open Access and guarantees the Open Peer Review. The reviews, other than being freely commentable to anyone, are themselves citable. The y have a DOI. In this way the review process is transparent and the review work is finally recognised to authors as a research work.