SEANOE is a scientific marine environment data publication solution created by the French NODC (National Oceanographic Data Centre). It allows scientists to publish a dataset with open access and to reliably and lastingly cite it in an article. It could also integrate the national effort to set up a coordinated management infrastructure for Earth observation data and more specifically the Ocean cluster.
A step towards open science, for free access to scientific publications and research data.
Publishing data via SEANOE
Open science, towards faster, more transparent research
Open access publication of the results of publicly funded research is a societal demand, propagated at pan-European and global level. In France, this movement is supported by the bill for a digital Republic [1]. When the data presented in a publication is cited and accessible online, a reader can use it to check or further investigate a result. Studies thus gain greater credibility and transparency. The reader can also use the data for their own work. Access to a greater number of research results can therefore help research to advance faster and reduce redundancies for the benefit of all.
Ifremer, ahead of the game in open science
Ifremer is the French research organisation which offers the highest percentage of open access articles in the country: over 80% of papers co-published by Ifremer over the past 10 years are freely accessible via Archimer, its institutional archive, while the international average of publications accessible via an archive is 12% [2]. This is thanks to the strong involvement of Ifremer's library personnel in the running of the Archive, the full range of services offered to authors by Archimer as well as the depositing requirement introduced in 2010.
SEANOE, how and why?
As a subcomponent of Archimer, specifically dedicated to scientific datasets, SEANOE enables users to easily publish research data free of charge. It is open to the whole of the international scientific community in the field of marine research.
Each dataset is controlled before it is published. SEANOE reserves the right to refuse a publication if the data does not meet its quality criteria or does not correspond to the relevant field (marine science).
Each dataset published by SEANOE has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier used as a resource identification mechanism) in which the author (data producer) is clearly identified. This allows data to be cited in an accurate, reliable and lasting manner.
Example of a data citation:
Pouvreau Stephane, Maurer Daniele, Auby Isabelle, Lagarde Franck, Le Gall Patrik, Cochet Hélène, Bouquet Anne-Lise, Geay Amélie, Mille Dominique (2016). VELYGER Database: The Oyster Larvae Monitoring French Project. http://dx.doi.org/10.17882/41888
SEANOE thus constitutes a solution to meet the requirements of journals which demand that the data used in an article be accessible online (e.g. PLOS ONE). It therefore offers an alternative to the French scientific community which until now turned to foreign centres to publish their data.
The data published by SEANOE may be used subject to the conditions set down in the Creative Commons license selected by the data authors. An embargo of up to 2 years may be applied to a dataset (for scientific publications in progress).
The publication of a dataset in SEANOE also means a connection with other information systems: catalogue of French oceanographic cruises, thematic data portal, directories of Ifremer personnel and partners, etc. These cross-linked systems thus guide users from one set of information to another and increase the visibility of this information on the web.
Example of a citation of an oceanographic cruise associated with a dataset published in SEANOE:
DESAUBIES Yves (2000) POMME - T0 cruise, Thalassa R/V, http://dx.doi.org/10.17600/40070