Community Uptake of 'Best Practices for Data Publication in the Astronomical Literature'

Community Uptake of “Best Practices for Data Publication in the Astronomical Literature” Marion Schmitz November 4, 2025 1 2 •Best Practices for Data Publication in the Astronomical Literature (Chen et al. 2022ApJS..260….5C) •A broad-based effort led by NED, in response to growth and complexity of data published in the literature •A call to authors to publish cleaner, unambiguous, and better documented data •Addresses important FAIR principles •Strong connection to NASA’s Open Science Program: Following BPs will improve the scientific record, enhance reusability, and help streamline ingest into archives 3 FAIR Principles •F1: (Meta)data are assigned globally unique and persistent identifiers •F2: Data are described with rich metadata •A1: (Meta)data are retrievable by their identifier using a standardized communications protocol •A1.1: The protocol is open, free, and universally implementable •A1.2: The protocol allows for an authentication and authorization procedure, where necessary • I1: (Meta)data use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation • I2: (Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles • I3: (Meta)data include qualified references to other (meta)data • R1.2: (Meta)data are associated with detailed provenance • R1.3: (Meta)data meet domain-relevant community standards 4 Findable Reusable Accessible Interoperable Astrophysical Data Guidelines – General Rules 5 a) Define all symbols, acronyms, and abbreviations at first use. E.g., a green check mark indicates a good usage or recommendation, a red “X” is used next to a bad or confusing example, and a question mark is used when the example is ambiguous. b) Provide uncertainty and confidence level when reporting a new measurement. P = 1.23456 +/- 0.00012 days P = 1.23456 (12) days ∆P = 0.0000012 days? c) Present the appropriate number of significant figures for numerical measurements and uncertainties that match the precision of the measurements. • (RA, Dec) = (131.32134587º, 1.01243229º)  accuracy of 10-8 deg or 10-5 arcsec d) Report the units for measurements, if present, and adopt commonly used ones. • Use recommendations by the IAU on units in astronomy and astrophysics (Rots et al. 2021) e) Indicate preferred values, if applicable. 6 Astrophysical Data Guidelines – Nomenclature a) Provide the complete name for each object. b) Include the “J” in names based on J2000 coordinates. c) Insert spacers between a catalog name and the identifiers within the catalog. SDSS J1441+0948 SDSS J144157.24+094859.1 SDSS J144156.97+094856.5 SDSS J144157.26+094853.7 SN 05J SN 1905J SN 2005J 0008+006 ZC 0008+006 (z = 2.3) IVS B0008+006 (z = 1.5) BR 0529-3526 BR J0529-3526 B21208+39 B2 1208+39 7 d) Distinguish between part of an object and the object itself. 3C 295 Cluster 3C 295 (when referring to the cluster) e) Do not use the same name for different objects. tau Ceti b, c, d, e, f, g, h (when b, c, d were refuted) f) Always assign a name and verify the name is unique. •Check IAU Dictionary of Nomenclature of Celestial Objects to avoid reusing existing ones. •Submit a new acronym to the IAU Designations and Nomenclature WG for review and registration. g) Keep the appropriate number of significant figures in coordinate-based names. •If coordinate designations are used, truncate the object’s position – don’t round up. E.g., for an object at 14ℎ41𝑚𝑚57𝑠𝑠.249 +09°48′59".15 XYZ J144157.24+084859.1 XYZ J144157.25+094859.2 Astrophysical Data Guidelines – Nomenclature 8 h) Use established names for known objects and check for the correct formatting. •Validate names through Sesame Astrophysical Data Guidelines – Nomenclature 3C 273 PKS B1226+023 IERS B1226+023 SAXWFC J1229.1+0202.3 5BZQ J1229+0203 [CW2008] J122909+020259 PG 1226+023 PKS J1229+0203 JVAS J1229+0203 2XMM J122906.6+020308 9Y-MST J1229+0200 [LLK2008] 1226+023 [HB89] 1226+023 PMN J1229+0203 OCARS 1226+023 2XMMp J122906.6+020308 FL8Y J1229.0+0202 [DFD2009] J1229+0203 4C +02.32 MRC 1226+023 PAPER J187.29+02.09 1XMM J122906.7+020308 IDEOS 00000010_00 [FCC2009] 096 PKS 1226+02 MG1 J122906+0202 RFC J1229+0203 4U 1226+02 IDEOS 04978176_00 [MGL2009] 1478 WISEA J122906.69+020308.6 87GB 122633.1+021928 RGB J1229+020 H 1226+023 IDEOS 12259328_00 [WMR2009] 093 WISE J122906.69+020308.6 87GB[BWE91] 1226+0219 WB J1229+0203 1H 1226+022 IDEOS 19716096_00 [GBW2010] CoNFIG1 135 WISE J122906.70+020308.6 [WB92] 1226+0219 WIBRaLS J1229+0203 1ES 1226+023 IDEOS 19718656_00 [TES2010] 040 2MASX J12290674+0203083 FIRST J122906.7+020308 WMAP 170 2E 2729 IDEOS 28975872_00 3C 273:[PWC2011] 2843 2MASS J12290669+0203085 NVSS J122906+020305 WMAP J1229+0203 2A 1225+022 IDEOS 28976384_00 [SBW2011] 43 SDSS J122906.69+020308.5 VLSS J1229.0+0202 WMAP J122906+0203 3A 1226+023 IDEOS 28976640_00 [BTM2013] 0619 GALEXASC J122906.80+020308.2 VSOP J1229+0203 NEWPS_5yr_5s_15 272 XRS 12260+024 IDEOS 28976896_00 [AHG2014] B015 IRAS 12265+0219 EUVE J1229+02.0 NEWPS_5yr_5s 281 XSS J12288+0200 IDEOS 28977152_00 [XH2014] J187.2779+02.0525 IRAS F12265+0219 UITBOC 1715 QVW5 J122907+0203 3FHL J1229.2+0201 [KWP81] 1226+02 [ZZ2014] J122906.69+020308.6 LQAC 187+002 004 ON +044 QVW7 J122906+020310 3FGL J1229.1+0202 [dML87] 295 [LSJ2017] J1229+0203 CGRaBS J1229+0203 CRATES J1229+0203 WMAP3-NEWPS-5S 163 SWIFT J1229.1+0202 [MHH96] J122906+020306 [VGV2018] J122906.41+020305.10 HE 1226+0219 CRATES J122906.70+020308.6 HIP 060936 2FGL J1229.1+0202 [POS96] J122906.78+020310.0 [CG2022] J122906.69+020308.59 LAMOST J122906.69+020308.6 CTA 053 2CXO J122906.6+020308 1FGL J1229.1+0203 RX J1229.1+0203:[BEV98] 001 [KPP2022] J1229+0203 LAMOST J122906.70+020308.6 DA 324 CXO J122906.6+020308 0FGL J1229.1+0202 3C 273:[CME2001] 01 [KSK2022] N334 LAMOST J122906.96+020307.6 NRAO 0400 CXOGSG J122906.6+020308 1FLE J1227+0218 [VCV2001] J122906.7+020308 [PKP2022] J1229+0203 PGC 041121 TXS 1226+023 RX J1229.1+0203 1AGL J1228+0142 RX J1229.1+0203:[ZEH2003] 01 RBS 1114 Cul 1226+023 1RXS J122906.5+020311 4FGL J1229.0+0202 [SMI2006] 02 SFRS 204 CoNFIG 137 IGR J12291+0203 EGR J1229+0203 [FBS2007] 48 SSTSL2 J122906.70+020308.6 CoNFIG2 J122906.41+020305.10 MAXI J1229+020 2EG J1229+0206 [HRT2007] J122906+020245 UVQS J122906.70+020308.6 GB6 J1229+0202 2PBC J1229.1+0202 3EG J1229+0210 [JBB2007] J122906.70+020308.6 BZQ J1229+0203 ICRF J122906.6+020308 PBC J1229.1+0202 F-GAMMA J1229+0203 [KRL2007] 118 Cross-IDs of 3C 273 in NED: i) Confirm the names and positions for cross identifications. 00 42 15.87, +00 50 43.7 NGC 0224 j) Crossmatch the same objects in different tables within the same article. name1 name2 name3 RA Dec Messier 031 Andromeda Galaxy NGC 0223 00 42 44.35 +41 16 08.6 9 Astrophysical Data Guidelines – Nomenclature Table 2, 3, and 4 Kundu et al., 2007ApJ...662..525K 16 a) Provide a clear title and unambiguous labels of columns – include units b) Explain the content of each column – does “z” mean redshift or the photometric filter? c) Keep each column homogeneous. •A single column should not present measurements with different units, mix errors with limits or comments, or append flags to values d) Use clearly defined, nonnumeric representations for missing (null) values. Null or NaN (Not a Number) are recommended “-999” or “0” are not to be used as place-holders e) Accompany a machine-readable table (MRT) with a ReadMe file. Data Presentation – Tables 17 a) Provide clear caption, legend, and axis labels for each figure • Clearly indicate what different colors, symbols, and lines represent Figures should be able to stand alone without requiring much reading of the main text. b) Create the graphics with accessibility in mind • E.g., color-blind users would benefit from symbols that vary in shape in addition to colors. c) Include information for "data behind the plots“ • The original data files used to generate the figures need to be publicly available Data Presentation – Figures 18 a) Append small data sets as part of the publication •larger data sets can be supplemental files b) Deposit large or complex data at well-established data centers • Use a trusted repository that issues Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) c) Provide a complete list of metadata •Metadata is needed to fully comprehend the data and includes aspects of the data such as the creation, standards, and quality of the data d) Include a Data Availability Statement, if required by the journal Data Archiving and Access 19 The link http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~yychang/ca.html in a 2017 article generates the following message in 2023: 404 Not Found ==================================================================== From a 2023 article: "The Host/FRB catalogue is available at the FRB Host Database http://frbhosts.org" However, upon clicking on this link one gets "The domain Frbhosts.org may be for sale." e) Do not publish data sets at URLs lacking long-term support. • We strongly discourage the publication of URLs to personal web servers Data Archiving and Access 20 a) Cite the original references • If data were obtained from a service, acknowledge the service E.g. "We adopted a heliocentric redshift of 1.234 (Smith et al. 2012) via NED", where "Smith et al. 2012" is listed correctly in your bibliography. b) Use preferred citations by the authors •E.g. the 2MASS web page requests that you cite the canonical paper by Skrutskie et al. (2006), instead of the Explanatory Supplement. c) Provide full provenance of the data •cite all data/sources/software used d) Include all references in the bibliography - not just in footnotes e) Distinguish original data in your article and data taken from other work. •Use phrases such as "This work" to clearly identify original data in your article Citation and Credits - Literature Citations 21 a) Explicitly indicate the facility involved - make sure the name is unique b) Use standardized keywords, when possible •E.g. AAS has created keyword tags to be used with AASTeX - \facility and \facilities a) Include the facility's own statement, if available • Refer to the phrase that was in place at the time the facility was used. Citation and Credits - Facility Credits From a 2023 journal article: •“the 12 m ARO Telescope on Kitt Peak (KP12)” •“Astronomical Research Observatory” ? •“Arizona Radio Observatory”? •“Abbey Ridge Observatory”? •“Algonquin Radio Observatory”? 22 a) List the software and version used in the production of the article including: •the name of the author(s) •title of the program/source code •the code version •a permanent URL link to the code publisher Citation and Credits - Software Credits 23 a) Use DOIs to cite related content • This includes specific data sets, software, and services used • The DOI links should be included in the bibliography Citation and Credits – Digital Object Identifiers Complication: When a new version of data are delivered, a new DOI should be minted. What should be done if a small addition is made to the previously delivered data requiring small changes to documentation? •New DOI for ensemble data set? •New DOI just for the new data? •Leave the old DOI as is? 24 a) Tag articles with relevant data content keywords from the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT) • Use UAT keywords that best describe the types of data contained in the article. Data Content Keywords Community Uptake 25 Now linked by major astrophysics journal publishers in their instructions for authors American Astronomical Society (AAS) journals: Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), ApJ Letters, ApJ Supplements, Astronomical Journal — Manuscript Preparation Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP) — Instructions for Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) — Instructions for Authors Cited in 14 journal articles to date and reaching beyond astronomy How to plan your astronomy research paper in ten steps (Chambra, Knapen & Black 2022, Nature Astr., 6, 1015) How to make your scientific data accessible, discoverable and useful (Perkel 2023, Nature, 618, 1098) Assessing your Observatory's Impact: Best Practices in Establishing and Maintaining Observatory Bibliographies (Observatory Bibliographers Collaboration et al. 2024, Open Journal of Astrophysics, 7, 85) Following Best Practices will improve the scientific record, enhance reusability of data, and help streamline ingest into archives accurately and efficiently to facilitate Open Science.