Data Management Plans
Developing a good data management plan is a crucial first step in robust data stewardship. A good data management plan outlines how data will be managed during the life cycle of any project. It will cover everything from data collection processes, quality assurance/ quality control, creation of metadata, data storage, and submission to a suitable repository.

The IODE Guidelines for Data Management Plans – are an extremely useful resource to check if a data management plan (developed or to be developed) is adequate in relation to sharing “information on the management and sharing of data, information and resulting knowledge” of a project or programme. See below, also, under “tools and templates”, some templates for developing DMPs.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000256544 

Guidelines and best practices:
Below are some guidelines and best practices where you can find more information on how to publish your data and or information as well as how to develop relevant plans and adopt FAIR data principles to ocean data.

• Guidelines for data publishing – including in situ physical/chemical data, glider data, biological observation data, model/ gridded data, geospatial data—and Metadata https://ioos.noaa.gov/data/data-standards/data-publishing/
• Manuals, guidelines, standards and best practices collected in the IOC Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS) ‘Catalogue of Sources’ https://catalogue.odis.org/search/type=14
• AquaDocs (https://aquadocs.org/pages/About) has recently been proposed/promoted as recommended repository for storing/sharing publications coming as outputs from Decade Actions 
• Ocean Best Practices is a repository of best practices related to ocean science. It contains generic best practices on data management and data collection,  as well on thematic areas (e.g. sensor types, thematic focus, environment, etc…) https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/ 
• The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has prepared some technical guidelines on data management, handling, and delivery of knowledge and data regarding the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystem services: https://ict.ipbes.net/ipbes-ict-guide/data-and-knowledge-management/technical-guidelines. The IPBES data management tutorials provide guidance to help experts implement the IPBES data management policy: https://ict.ipbes.net/ipbes-ict-guide/data-and-knowledge-management/data-management-tutorials
• The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) provides recommendations for formatting and sharing data and metadata for the MBON community. The materials were developed through the MBON Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure Working Group (MBON DMAC WG): https://ioos.github.io/mbon-docs/index.html

Standards
Using, and/or developing and agreeing on common standards is the first step in making data interoperable. Below are some high-level examples that are adopted by the ocean data community and systems:

• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards to improve access to geospatial, or location information – the glue to geospatial information interoperability – https://www.ogc.org/standards/
• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 19115 Geographic Metadata Standard (ISO 19115) www.earthdata.nasa.gov/esdis/esco/standards-and-practices/iso-19115
• The European INSPIRE Directive specifies common data models, code lists, map layers and additional metadata on the interoperability to be used when exchanging spatial datasets. https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/data-specifications/2892
• Citation using Digital Object Identifier (DOI)- A unique and never-changing string assigned to online (journal) articles, books, and other works. www.doi.org 

Depending on the type of data that you are collecting, there may be other community-specific or thematic standards that you are required or advised to use, or you may need to develop your own. Some examples of the application of standards within different communities are outlined below.

• The Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) Darwin Core is a body of standards (i.e., identifiers, labels, definitions) that facilitate sharing biodiversity informatics. More information on OBIS’ Data Policy and standards is available via the OBIS manual – https://manual.obis.org/
• SeaDataNet provides user manuals for updating metadata directories:

Contribution to metadata directories (EDMO, EDMED, EDMERP, CSR and EDIOS): www.seadatanet.org/Metadata/How-to-contribute/Metadata-EDMO-EDMED-EDMERP-CSR-and-EDIOS

Contribution to Common Data Index (CDI) directory: www.seadatanet.org/Metadata/How-to-contribute/Data-CDI

• IOOS guidelines on data sharing https://ioos.noaa.gov/data/data-standards/open-data-sharing/ 
• NCEI provides guidance on Metadata maintenance and writing quality metadata www.ncei.noaa.gov/resources/metadata

• OSPAR data reporting guidance in each of the following work areas: Biological diversity & Ecosystems, hazardous substance & Eutrophication, Human Activities, Offshore Industry, Radioactive Substances www.ospar.org/work-areas

• MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard v3.1.2 (marine profile of the UK government Standard GEMINI2) complies with other international conventions such as INSPIRE and ISO19115. (All content within this repository is publicly available and is held under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License)
  https://medin.org.uk/sites/medin/files/documents/MEDIN_Schema_Documentation_3_1_2_full-1.pdf
  https://github.com/medin-marine/Discovery-Standard-public-content

Data reporting
Data reporting is the process of collecting data, storing it in formats and/or visualizing data in a way that makes it meaningful, digestible and usable in context. This is an important aspect for all Decade Actions, to make sure that their data has meaning and can be used to address the Decade challenges.

• IOOS guidelines on data sharing https://ioos.noaa.gov/data/data-standards/open-data-sharing/
• National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) receives data from many different sources, not only from NOAA or NOAA funded projects, but also from individuals or other research institutions. NCEI provides guidelines for information submission quality control. ncei.noaa.gov/archive
• OSPAR data reporting guidance in each of the following work areas: Biological diversity & Ecosystems, hazardous substance & Eutrophication, Human Activities, Offshore Industry, Radioactive Substances ospar.org/work-areas

Tools and templates:
Below are some helpful tools and templates to support good data management, for example to in order to develop a data management plan or write good metadata.

• NOAA template data management plan: https://dmptool.org/template_export/756435778.pdf  

• The NCEI provides template to guide the collection of metadata according to the ISO 19115-2 standard, and provides a minimum information baseline for NCEI metadata records https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/resources/metadata#resources

• Guidance for the NCEI Collection Level Metadata Template: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/AB-GUID-02823_R1_Guidance%20for%20The%20NCEI%20Collection%20Level%20Metadata%20Template%20v1.2.pdf

• Tools and guidelines from the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet): https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/tools-guidelines

Are you seeking guidance but cannot find relevant use-cases from the above examples?
Contact us on the Data Helpdesk.