What does data publication mean?

Biological collections and databases contain unique taxonomic, geographic and historic information, collected for years by scientists and researchers who study the natural world. This information is crucial for the right understanding and management of biodiversity and ecosystems, but it is not always easily accessible or it is presented in formats which are difficult to read or to use with other sources. In the GBIF framework, publication means sharing biodiversity data in a standardized format which makes these data available for free use according to established usage licenses.

We think the participation of all biodiversity institutions and projects is very important, both scientific fields and management and conservation fields. In this context, when data publishers upload their data they receive the respective appropriation and have complete control over those data (check GBIF data publisher agreement).

Spain has already many institutes, organizations and projects joining the GBIF network and you can find them in the List of participants.

Benefits

One of the most important aspects of GBIF mission is to promote people being aware of the benefits derived from the publication of their biodiversity data, for them and for society.

  • By publishing your data, many users from around the world will be able to discover and use millions of species registers.
  • When you make your data visible and accessible you will be contributing to the global knowledge of biodiversity and, thus, promoting solutions for its conservation and sustainable use.
  • If you publish your data, you will get visibility and recognition for your work and more opportunities to create links with other data publishers and researchers.
  • You can also publish datapapers, giving academic recognition to your published datasets.
  • Using DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers), you can track the usage and mention of the published data downloaded by users.

Types of published data

1. Checklist: 

They are lists containing scientific names or taxons which can be restricted to a taxonomic group, a geographic area, a determined topic (exotic species, red lists, etc.) or a mix of these three factors.

2. Occurrences and biological collections:

They are databases containing registers of conserved specimens from herbariums and biological collections or occurrences from fieldwork. These registers prove the presence of species (or taxons) in a determined place and in a concrete date. They are also the bulk of all data which are published in GBIF. Specimens and fossils (animals, plants, fungi, etc.) from natural history collections can be found in this type of data, as well as sightings from inventories or from citizen science projects, and data obtained by the use of camera trap or remote sensing satellites.

3. Sample-based data:

They are data from monitoring studies such as plant sample plots, camera trap, bird censuses, aquatic sample, etc. They show the methods, events and relative abundance related to the register species.

4. Metadata:

They are a type of resource describing non-digitalized datasets. These publications are a valuable tool to make off-line data visible. They can also help to determine the relative importance of the non-computerized collections and to establish priorities for a future digitalization. As for the rest of datasets, GBIF ensures each metadata set will be associated with a unique digital object identifier (DOI) in order to guarantee its correct mention.