Feedback from our users is welcome. If you come across a possible error or incomplete information or want to contribute to the OBPS repository, please use our Feedback or Help Desk link 1. Introduction 2. Citation of OBPS Repository 3. Disclaimer 4. Content Scope 4.1 Subject Criteria 4.2 Practice Method Criteria 5. Language 6. Depositors 6.1 Document Types 7. Full text 7.1 Full text file formats 8. Copyright 9. Metadata standards 10. Metadata policy 11. Preservation ____________________________________
1. Introduction The Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) is hosted by the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) of the UNESCO-IOC as an IOC coordinated activity (IODE and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) . The repository is a Methodological Management System provided for the ocean community to share their practices, standards, protocols, methods, standard operating procedures etc. The OBPS Repository is not an archive for general publications on marine and aquatic sciences - for those, please deposit into the complementary AquaDocs.
2. Citation of OBPS Repository To cite the OBPS repository, the citation is as follows: Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS). [Website]. Available: https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/ (Accessed date.) For citing individual records in the OBPS Repository, please use the citation for the document as provided in the OBPS record display.
3. Disclaimer By consulting, depositing and/or downloading data from the OBPS Repository, the user understands the following: Inclusion of a methodology in the OBPS does not indicate that the methodology is recommended by OBPS. OBPS annotates records as an Endorsed Practice https://doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1983 The information, data, statements, geographical boundaries, maps and declarations expressed in documents and objects in the OBPS repository do not imply the official endorsement or acceptance by UNESCO/IOC. UNESCO/IOC does not warrant that the information, documents and materials contained in the OBPS repository and OBPS website is complete and correct and shall not be liable whatsoever for any damages incurred as a result of its use. Contributors to this repository are solely responsible for the contents of their uploaded documents. Mention of a commercial company or product within this repository content does not constitute an endorsement by UNESCO/IOC Use of information from this repository for publicity or advertising purposes concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products is not authorized.
4. Content Scope The Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) Repository is a global, open access resource. It accepts methodological standards and practices related to ocean sciences and services. These practices and standards may be at various stages of maturity. The goal of OBPS is to support users in creating and sharing methods with the ocean community. It makes available for sharing both globally recognised methods and also lesser known practices, some tailored for application in local environments and resource-limited conditions. Submissions of "methodological documentation" to the OBPS Repository should comply with the repository subject and method criteria (Sections 4.1 and 4.2) described below. They are accepted in many publication formats, including reports, journal articles, training videos, software, code and more. They can be described as guides, guidelines, manuals, standard operating procedures (SOP), technical specifications, standards, etc. Submissions from commercial organisations may be included in the OBPS Repository, provided they comply with the criteria listed in this document and the Repository Disclaimer is included in the metadata. Prior to inclusion in the OBPS Repository, each submission will be reviewed by the OBPS Repository Manager, and if necessary in consultation with experts in the respective fields. OBPS has the responsibility to accept or reject any submission for suitability against the subject and practices (method) criteria established below which will be applied on a case-by-case assessment.
4.1 Subject Criteria The OBPS Repository accepts methodological documentation from marine and ocean-related disciplines, data and information and ocean applications. It generally does not include those related to maritime law enforcement and commercial shipping or navigation documentation. The OBPS has a global geographic and habitat scope, extending from the deep waters to the surface of the open ocean, to coastal, estuarine, brackish, and freshwater environments and includes the air-sea interface and atmospheric processes relevant to air-sea interactions. The submission must be relevant to at least one of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Mission, and/or IOC High Level Objectives, and be consistent with United Nations principles and guidelines, for example, the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).
IOC Mission The purpose of the IOC is to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programmes in research, services and capacity-building, in order to learn more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas and to apply that knowledge for the improvement of management, sustainable development, the protection of the marine environment, and decision-making processes of its Member States (IOC Statutes, Article 2.1).
IOC High Level Objectives The IOC is working to achieve its Vision through the following High-Level Objectives: - Healthy ocean and sustained ocean ecosystem services; - Effective warning systems and preparedness for tsunamis and other ocean-related hazards; - Resilience to climate change and contribution to its mitigation; - Scientifically-founded services for the sustainable ocean economy; - Foresight on emerging ocean science issues
4.2 Practice method Criteria Submissions should be made on the understanding that the practice (methodological) documentation is a contribution to the methodological base of the ocean community. The focus of the submission should be a method/practice applied in ocean-related disciplines and applications. Practice documents in the repository also include standards, vocabularies, strategies, recommendations, advice, comparison of practices, relevant regulations, and training and educational materials. To be accepted in the OBPS Repository, the submission must meet the criteria listed in Table 1.
The OBPS recognizes that repository users looking for practices and methods to adopt in their own settings, are interested in the maturity and quality of a method (maturity of a method is the measure of the level of development). The OBPS does not recommend methods but does record a method as ENDORSED https://doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1983
The OBPS offers document templates for supporting the creation of ocean practices, and the process itself is well described in Fig. 2 in Przesławski, et al, 2023. Importantly, the practice title and abstract and methods body text should describe its methods focus.
5. Language Methods published in multiple languages that are compliant with the above scopings, are accepted into the repository provided that in the metadata submitted they have an English title and abstract (and preferably in the document itself)
6. Depositors
6.1. Document types Methodologies can be published digitally as the following: document types: Book/Monograph: A book or a conference volume or complete serial issue.Book Section: A chapter or section in a book, monograph or conference volume. Journal Contribution: A contribution to a journal Report: This may be a technical report, project report, documentation, manual or guideline, working paper, discussion paper. Report Section: A chapter or section in a report. Software: Computer programs and applications. Video/Image : A static image or recording of moving visual images made digitally. Web Based Content: Usually a website/webpage. If a document is hosted on a website, use the appropriate document type for the item and include the website URL in the Resource URL metadata field. Other: Something within the scope of the repository, but not covered by the other categories. At metadata input, selecting one of the above document types will present the depositor with the metadata fields to complete only for that document type; for example, journal contribution metadata is not displayed to input for a report deposit. COMPLETION OF ALL METADATA FIELDS is highly recommended to facilitate discovery of the method.
7. Full text The purpose of the OBPS Repository is to make full-text methodological documents and other objects discoverable, accessible, and usable by any user with access to the Internet. Thus, the OBPS Repository adheres to the FAIR Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-Usable) in its design. When inputting a record, the metadata must be accompanied with a full text file upload, otherwise it will not be accepted on submission. Searching and downloading full text documents in the OBPS repository is free for any individual user. Re-use of OBPS content is controlled by the display of Rights Permissions (eg Creative Commons License) including any other copyright restrictions. The downloaded content must not be changed in any way unless allowed by the Permission to Use license attached to the metadata. In compliance with Copyright Conventions, single copies of full text items may be downloaded for educational, scientific or research purposes or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge ie Fair Use, provided the following are displayed:
7.1 Full Text file formats It is mandatory to upload a full text file when submitting a repository record. The following file formats will be supported and preserved using either format migration or emulation techniques:
Non-Text: Image (jpeg, mpeg) and audio files (wav) can be uploaded but may not be supported for preservation purposes.
Deposit of other file formats should be discussed with the OBPS Repository Manager.
8. Copyright
9. Metadata standards The repository uses the well-established metadata standard Qualified Dublin Core and makes use of widely adopted controlled thesauri and other terminological resources.
10. Metadata policy Third parties may collect metadata from the OBPS Repository via automated mechanisms and facilitate end-user services to support the dissemination and retrieval of the repository’s content. It is the policy of the OBPS to allow the harvesting of metadata, but to explicitly prohibit the automated harvesting of the full text content of the intellectual works in the OBPS repository.
11. Preservation The Preservation policy for OBPS Repository documents:
