Check Dataset Metadata Quality

Assessment Reports provide automated dataset metadata quality checks based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles.

ESS-DIVE’s Assessment Reports provide automated feedback on metadata quality and should be used by dataset creators to assess their metadata before requesting publication. Datasets must pass all required checks to meet ESS-DIVE’s publication requirements (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Assessment Report Score and Checks

Assessment Report Automated Review

Dataset metadata undergo an automated review whenever changes are submitted to ESS-DIVE. The automated review uses a standard suite of checks designed based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles (Table 1). The Metadata Assessment Report displays the check results and compiles a score for each FAIR category (e.g. 93/100/100/50).

ESS-DIVE reviewers use the Assessment Report scores during the formal review process to assess the quality of metadata before publication. Not all ESS-DIVE dataset publication requirements are contained within the Assessment Report. For a complete list of both manual and automated metadata checks, see the Dataset Requirements page.

Before publication, the report is only available to the dataset creator and those who have shared access to the private dataset. The Assessment Report becomes available to the public once the dataset is published.

Check Score while Drafting Metadata

Before requesting publication for a dataset, data contributors should review the Assessment Report and address any failed or warning checks. The report provides data contributors immediate feedback on their metadata quality and instructions to revise specific metadata fields. By improving the FAIR category scores before starting a formal review, data contributors can expedite the overall publication process.

Please note that assessment reports can take a few minutes, or up to 24 hours, to generate.

To access an assessment report, navigate to a dataset landing page on ESS-DIVE and select the "Assessment Report" button on the right-hand side of the landing page (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Assessment Report Button on Dataset Page

Resolve Failed Checks and Warnings

Failed and warning checks will impact Assessment Report scores. All checks will state any requirements and steps to address the issue. Use the provided instructions to revise your metadata.

Failed checks indicate that a required field does not follow the automated check criteria (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Failed Automated Checks

Warning checks indicate that an optional field does not follow the automated check criteria (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Warning Automated Checks

After revising and resubmitting your dataset, check your score again to ensure you’ve addressed all issues. If you see any message other than the notice that the score is loading (Figure 5), please contact ESS-DIVE support.

Figure 5. Assessment Report Loading Page

Automated Checks

The checks below are run on each dataset upon submission as a part of the ESS-DIVE automated check suite. Review the Dataset Requirements Page for more detailed descriptions, formatting requirements, and examples for the automated checks.

Informational checks do not impact the Assessment Report score.

Criteria	Required/Optional	FAIR Category
Title length between between 7 and 40 words	Required	Findable
Abstract length is at least 100 words	Required	Findable
Publication date is present	Required	Findable
Creators, at least one is present	Required	Findable
Dataset Contact, ensure contact is present	Required	Accessible
Dataset Contact, ensure ORCiD is provided	Required	Accessible
Start and End Dates are present	Required	Findable
Project name is from controlled list	Optional	Findable
Funding organization "U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)" is present	Optional	Findable
Geographic Description is present	Optional	Findable
Coordinates describing the point location or geographic area of the dataset are present	Optional	Findable
Methods description is more than 7 words in length	Required	Reusable
Data file formats are non-proprietary	Optional	Reusable
Usage rights is set to Creative Commons CC-BY license	Optional	Reusable
Informational: Number of contacts with email addresses provided	Informational	Findable
Informational: Number of creators with email addresses provided	Informational	Findable
Informational: Number of data entities present	Informational	Interoperable

Table 1: List of automated checks performed by the automated assessment suite