Citing Data and Using DOIs

In biomedical research, effective data citation practices are essential for transparency, collaboration, and the advancement of scientific knowledge. The EDRN Cancer Biomarker Data Commons (LabCAS) is a vital biomarker data repository that provides EDRN members with a wealth of valuable resources. Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are a robust and standardized means of citation that ensure traceability of data sourced from LabCAS. DOIs follow best practices to ensure your data can continue to be citable.

The Informatics Center uses DataCite to register and obtain persistent identifiers (DOIs) for research data, making these resources discoverable and citable long-term.

For EDRN members, this guarantees that they will receive appropriate credit, increase the findability of data, and provide formalized standards for data to be recognized as a legitimate, citable scholarly contribution. It also allows for tracking and measuring the impact of the data. This is in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, and Interoperable).

Below are steps for citing data in LabCAS using DOIs, encompassing three distinct citation types: collections, datasets, and individual files. Each type of citation serves a specific purpose, ensuring that researchers can navigate the LabCAS repository with precision, transparency, and integrity.

Steps to making data public and citing:

  1. Upload your scientific data to the EDRN Cancer Biomarkers Data Commons (LabCAS)
  2. Request a digital object identifier for the data you would like to be referenced from the Informatics Center. This can be an entire collection or a specific dataset that has been captured in LabCAS. Provide the following:
    1. LabCAS links to the data you would like to be made public
    2. The following DOI required registration attributes:
      1. Creator(s). The main researcher or researchers involved in producing the data, in priority order
        1. Institution Name
        2. Researcher Name
      2. Title of the resource
      3. Contact Person
        1. Institution Name
        2. Contact Person Name
        3. Contact Person Email

To cite scientific data:

  1. Provide the unique identifier for the data set, the DOI.
  2. Provide a citation for the data set, including the author(s), title, date, and publisher.

Here is an example of a citation for a science data:

Maitra, A. & Guerrero P. (2023). PCA Pilot - DNA Exome Sequencing [Dataset]. MCL Laboratory Catalog and Archive System. https://doi.org/10.26252/7mh0-4702

Additional links to how to cite data, is there a different/better way?

Here are two examples of Anirban's data in the Consortium for Molecular and Cellular Characterization of Screen-Detected Lesions: