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Objective 3

Contribution guide

What you need before submitting data, and how the review process works.

Accepted data types

  • Literature-extracted data from peer-reviewed papers (preferred format: Excel/CSV)
  • Lab-generated experimental data from a collaborator group
  • Molecular dynamics simulation outputs (metadata + numeric results)
  • Article registration without numeric data (DOI/citation only)

Required article metadata

  • Full citation (authors, year, title, journal, volume/issue/pages)
  • DOI - strongly preferred; used for duplicate detection
  • For lab data: collaborator group and analytical method
  • For simulation data: method, force field, solvent, temperature, simulation time

Required units

Every numeric measurement must carry a unit. Common ones the system recognizes: g, N, kPa, g-force for hardness; % only for WHC (convert g water/g protein or g water/g sample to % before entry - Analytics always labels WHC as "Water holding capacity (%)"); m²/g for EAI; °C for temperature; minutes for time; M for ionic strength. Mixed units in one column will be flagged on import.

Standard templates

For most uploads, the column mapper handles header variation automatically - you don't need an identical template every time. Where a template would help, see the data dictionary for the canonical column names. (Downloadable per-functionality templates are a planned future addition.)

Review process

  1. Upload or register the data. Rows enter as pending.
  2. Validation warnings (missing DOI, suspicious pH) are flagged but don't block submission.
  3. Likely duplicates against existing data are detected before import.
  4. You (or an admin) reviews each row in the import batch and accepts/rejects/marks duplicate.
  5. Accepted rows enter experimental_records; they remain pending until an admin approves them.
  6. Approved rows become visible to viewers and the public.

Correction process

Editors can edit their own pending rows. After approval, corrections go through an admin. Every change is captured in the audit log with before/after values, the user who made the change, and the timestamp.

Deletion request process

Editors can request removal of their own pending rows. Approved scientific records are not hard-deleted; an admin marks them soft-deleted with a reason, and the row stops appearing in browse/export but remains in the audit history. True permanent deletion happens only via direct database operation by an admin.

Collaborator responsibilities

Each collaborator group is responsible for the accuracy of data they contribute, for honoring the publisher's copyright terms of any literature they upload, and for noting analytical method standardization clearly so cross-lab comparability can be assessed.
Questions? Use the feedback page to reach an admin.