Journals implement data archiving policy

Via Dryad News & Views.

It's January 2011– do you know where your data are?

It would be a good idea to know and be ready to deposit your files in a data repository, because this month marks the implementation of the Joint Data Archiving Policy.  The policy, endorsed by a consortium of prominent journals and societies, states that journals will require as a condition for publication, that data supporting the results in the paper should be archived in an appropriate public archive.

The policy can be customized by each journal, and enables both embargoes and editorial discretion to make special exceptions. Blanket exemptions apply to sensitive data such as identifiable human records and endangered species localities.

The journals (and corresponding societies) implementing the policy this month are:

• The American Naturalist (American Society of Naturalists)
  
• The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (Linnean Society of London)
  
• Evolution (Society for the Study of Evolution)
  
• Evolutionary Applications
  
• Heredity (The Genetics Society)
  
• Journal of Evolutionary Biology (European Society for Evolutionary Biology)
  
• Molecular Biology and Evolution (Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution)
  
• Molecular Ecology<
• Systematic Biology (Society for Systematic Biology)
  

A sampling of the revised Instructions to Authors includes:

The American Naturalist: “The American Naturalist requires authors to deposit the data associated with accepted papers in a public archive. For gene sequence data and phylogenetic trees, deposition in GenBank or TreeBASE, respectively, is required. There are many possible archives that may suit a particular data set, including the Dryad repository for ecological and evolutionary biology data (http://datadryad.org). All accession numbers for GenBank, TreeBASE, and Dryad must be included in accepted manuscripts before they go to Production. Any impediments to data sharing should be brought to the attention of the editors at the time of submission.”

Journal of Evolutionary Biology “The editors and publisher of this journal expect authors to make the data underlying published articles available. An investigator who feels that reasonable requests have not been met by the authors should correspond with the Editor-in-Chief. Authors must use the appropriate database to deposit detailed information supplementing submitted papers, and quote the accession number in their manuscripts.”

Molecular Ecology: “Data Accessibility: To enable readers to locate archived data from Molecular Ecology papers, as of January 2011 we will require that authors include a ‘Data Accessibility’ section after their references. This should list the data base and respective accession numbers for all data from the manuscript that has been made publicly available…. Please note that this section must be complete prior to the submission of the final version of your manuscript. Papers lacking this section will not be sent to Production.”

At Dryad, we have been working for some time now with editors and publishers at these and other partner journals to support the implementation of this policy. If you submit an article to a “JDAP journal,” you will be invited to simultaneously submit your data to Dryad. This may occur either prior to review or, depending on the journal, at the time your article is accepted. Dryad and the journal communicate behind the scenes to make it as easy as possible for you to deposit your data, and also ensure that a permanent, resolvable, and citable data identifier is published in the final article. That way, in the future, no one need be frightened by the question "do you know where your data are?"

Why Can’t I Use My Netid Password Anymore to Login to Library Resources?

As of January 16th, 2011 Library patrons using on-line library resources from off-campus will be greeted with a different screen when trying to access electronic resources. Users will be required to login using their netid and an Active Directory password.

If you do not remember your Active Directory password click on the link below the “Forgot your Active Directory password?” when connecting to an electronic resource to reset your password or click on this link.

For more information about the Active Directory, and changing/establishing an Active Directory password please go to the Cites "Managing Your Accounts and Passwords" page.

The Library had been using Ezproxy to authenticate and authorize remote users. They switched to Shibboleth which is an Internet2 initiative.

Massive Online Plant Database Unveiled

Read the full story at Red Orbit.

Researchers from the US and UK unveiled a new online database of plant names on Wednesday in what they are calling an attempt to help global conservation, medicinal, and agricultural efforts. The Plant List, as it is known, is a collaborative effort by workers at London's Kew Gardens and the Missouri Botanical Garden, located in St. Louis. It is said to be the most comprehensive list of botanical life ever assembled, featuring the names of 1.25 million plants "ranging from essential food crops such as wheat, rice and corn to garden roses and exotic jungle ferns," according to AFP reports.

Update of Draft National Wetland Plant List Available for Review and Comment

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting public comments on the updated draft National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) developed as part of an ongoing interagency effort to identify and assign wetland plant ratings (indicator status) to species found in the United States and its territories. The NWPL provides a list of wetland plants by species and their wetland ratings that is used extensively by federal, state agencies, the scientific and academic communities, and the private sector in wetland delineations, the planning and monitoring of wetland mitigation and restoration sites, and serves to provide general botanical information about wetland plants.

In the early 1980s, the four primary federal agencies involved in wetland delineation –USACE, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service – realized the importance of utilizing plants and soils as indicators for wetland delineation purposes. These agencies agreed to assemble panels of wetland ecologists to review and revise the various plant lists for 10 regions of the country. The updated NWPL will replace the currently used National List of Plant Species that Occur in Wetlands, which was published by the FWS in 1988.

In 2006, the administration of the NWPL was transferred from FWS to USACE. That same year, the USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H., created a Web site used to update the scientific names and ratings for 8,558 wetland plants on the 1988 list. This process, which included academic and independent peer reviews of the process, resulting in the updated draft list announced today.

A public notice on the updated draft NWPL is published in the January 6, 2011, Federal Register and will provide the public the opportunity to participate in this national effort to supply input by region on the wetland rating of each species and to provide comments on the draft plant list.

Comments must be received within the 60-day notice period and submitted on-line at http://wetland_plants.usace.army.mil/. Comments received will be compiled and included as part of the administrative record. Regional interagency panels, in cooperation with the national interagency panel, will review and incorporate any needed changes resulting from the information received during the comment period. A final NWPL will be published in the Federal Register.

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