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This document is a work in progress and not the final version.
This Handbook on Data and Knowledge Publication in the Soil Domain equips researchers with essential strategies and practical steps to publish soil-related data in a way that maximizes its value, visibility, and reuse across disciplines. Rooted in the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, it responds to the growing need for coherent, transparent, and collaborative soil science data practice. By ensuring that datasets and knowledge assets are well documented, richly described, and sustainably archived, the guidelines help overcome fragmentation and enhance research impact.
The handbook bridges conceptual frameworks and hands-on workflows, from choosing repositories to metadata design and licensing. It supports researchers throughout the data lifecycle — from planning and management to publication and long-term stewardship. Emphasis is placed on community standards, persistent identifiers (such as DOIs), and machine-actionable metadata to unlock broader interoperability. By following these guidelines, soil scientists will contribute to a more open, efficiently shared, and more robust scientific record. The principles also underpin compliance with funding policies and international research infrastructures. Whether producing field measurements, models, or derived data products, authors will find clear direction here. This handbook encourages a culture of responsible data stewardship that fosters innovation, reproducibility, and cross-project synthesis. Welcome to a resource designed to make your soil data FAIR, valuable and enduring.
Contents:
- Guideline Overview A comprehensive overview of the FAIR principles and their application in soil science, including best practices for data management, metadata standards, and licensing.
- Set of use cases in FAIR sharing A collection of practical examples demonstrating how to implement FAIR principles in various soil science contexts, such as field data, remote sensing, and modeling outputs.
Presentations based on the handbook
The content of the handbook is regularly presented at relevent events. Slides of these presentations are readily available.