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Data Release Revisions

By ScienceBase Instructions and Documentation

Instructions for revising public data releases in ScienceBase.

The workflow for a data releases revision has a few differences from the workflow for publishing your initial data release. The specifics depend on the type of revision you're making – the USGS guidance talks about these types in terms of "levels":

Table describing how to determine revision levels for a data release
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1. Determine Revision Level:  

  • Check FSP guidance for revision level information. This depends on the significance of the change and on whether the change could affect data use (which includes automated access). 
  • The data author and approving official, ideally also the data manager, should collaborate to determine the level of revision needed.  
  • If your revision level is above a level 1 (that is, 2-5), you'll be expected to go through IPDS again, submit the updated data and metadata files for review in IPDS, which requires Center Director (or delegated authority) approval.  
  • If needed, you can contact the ScienceBase Data Release team (sciencebase_datarelease@usgs.gov) to help develop a revision plan. We can help you with updating the current landing page or creating new pages in ScienceBase, depending on the level of revision.

 

2. Preserve previous versions of your data and metadata:  

  • The data should be preserved to maintain provenance. 
  • Find a preservation location. This could be either an offline location (sometimes called a dark archive) or a non-public web page in a repository. 
  • Address how to access previous versions in a few places: in your metadata, the version history text file, and on the data release landing page. 

 

3. Prepare files for review in IPDS:  

  • An IPDS review is required for revision levels 2-5 
  • Prepare you metadata and data release files for review in IPDS. 

 

4. Metadata Updates: 

  • Update the title element to include the new versioning information, if this is a level 2-4 revision. The specific version number will depend on your revision level and the number of times you've revised the data release, but the format is always the same: (ver. 2.0, Month Year). 
  • Include information on the revision in the abstract of the metadata. For example, this could include the dates of the current revision and any previous revisions this data release has gone through, information on how to obtain previous versions of the data, and details on updates made in the current version. 
  • Check your abstract for outdated information, like year ranges that are no longer relevant. 

  • Update the process steps with any new steps.  

    Important notes:  

  • You don’t need to change publication date in the metadata: for a revision, the publication date stays as the original date of publication.
  • Data releases often have multiple child items – in these cases, the metadata updates are usually made just on the main landing page.

 

 5. Version history text file: 

  • Create a basic, plain text file that describes the changes that have been made. If you have multiple revisions, they can all be described in order in the file. 

  • It can be fairly short, example can be found here. 

    Note: should also contain instructions on how to access previous versions of your data 

 

6. Submit files for review in IPDS: 

  • Share the updated files (data, metadata, version history text file) with your reviewers. Their review comments and your reconciliation document should be tracked in IPDS.  
  • The SBDR team will then publish the data release after the revised data and documentation have received approval in IPDS and are at the ‘Dissemination’ stage.  

 

7. Landing page updates: 

Level 2 and 3 revisions: 

  • For simple revisions that just involve swapping out the original files for updated files, the data release team can help with replacing the files and making changes for the authors while the landing page remains live. Users who are very familiar with the ScienceBase system, such as Data Managers who work a lot in SB, are also able to manage their revision themselves. 
  • Some revisions take some time, and if you‘d like to be able to work on the new landing page to get a sense of what the revision will look like, we do have an option available.
    • The SBDR team can make a copy of the landing page.
    • The copy will be public through this process, and the original Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will point to this page. There won’t be any data on it, but there will be a note saying that the data release is being revised and the data are temporarily unavailable.
    • Meanwhile, the original landing page can be revised in the background with restricted permission settings.

 

Level 4 and 5 revisions: 

  • Revision levels 4 and 5 have slightly different workflows, which the SBDR team can help you with. 

  • Both a level 4 and 5 revisions involve creating a new landing page and assigning a new DOI  

    Note: For a level 5 revision, a new publication date will also be included because it’s considered a separate product 

 

8. Publication of the updated data release: 

  • Once the revision has reached the dissemination stage, send us an email letting us know it’s ready to go. 
  • Notify the SBDR team (sciencebase_datarelease@usgs.gov) member that helped you update your landing page and let them know that you’re ready to make the updates or make your updates live.
  • In your email, please include:
    • The IPDS number associated with the revision so we can include it with your data release. It will be in a hidden field associated with the landing page and will also be added to the DOI metadata.
    • Include the URLs involved, if applicable. For example, the original landing page URL and the copy landing page.  

 

9. SBDR review: 

The SBDR team member will then check your data release and make several updates to the landing page. 

  • Ensure the title of data release will stay the same, with the addition of a new versioning element (for example ver. 6.0, January 2021) 
  • Original publication date will stay on the page and a revision date will be added.  
  • If there are multiple revisions, the most recent date in the dates section will be labeled “last revision” date.
    • If there are more than 5 revisions, we will delete all other revision dates and leave only the ‘last revision’ date (i.e. on the sixth revision). Prior to deleting revision dates, we ensure that these dates are captured in the associated DOI metadata record.  
  • We’ll add a note to the provenance section of the landing page, containing the name of the person authorizing the revision and the date the revision took place. We’ll also point users to the Revision History text file in this section.   
  • We’ll add the IPDS number associated with the revision to the landing page’s hidden Properties section.   

  • Update the associated DOI record.

    Note: These updates are all in line with FSP policy and versioning guidance  

 

 10. Complete final step in IPDS: 

  • Once you receive an email from the SBDR team that your revision has been finalized, you can go to the IPDS record and complete any remaining fields there and change the status from 'dissemination' to 'disseminated’.  
  • This final step is important for ensuring that your revision is appropriately displayed on USGS webpages. 

 

Special Cases: 

Multiple child items (that is, subpages that are nested under the landing page) 

  • SBDR team will propagate the updated citation from the landing page to all child items (so that they’ll be consistent) 
  • We won’t add versioning elements to the titles of the child items, which are all unique. The titles on the child item pages and in their attached metadata records should stay the same. 
  • Revision history text file will only be on the landing page.
     

Wrong file upload  

  • If the correct data were reviewed in IPDS, but the wrong file was uploaded to ScienceBase, the author does not need to go through IPDS again. From that perspective it’s technically a level one revision. 
  • However, we’ll document the changes in ScienceBase as if it were a level 2 or 3 revision.
     

New landing page 

  • If you’d like a completely new landing page for some reason, and it’s a reason other than that you’re following the specific steps of a level 4 or 5 revision, please work with us on that. There’s usually a way to maintain consistency with our workflow, for example to make sure that our tracking tags are there, as well as to ensure that the FSP requirements have been met.