Recommendation to data infrastructures to allow to assign IGSNs to data records

Status: 23.5.2025

Integrating IGSNs into data infrastructures enhances the quality, consistency, and interoperability of sample metadata. When systems support the capture and exposure of IGSNs—along with parent-child sample relationships—sample-based data becomes more discoverable, reusable, and reliably linked to other research outputs. Making IGSNs part of harvestable metadata allows for better integration across repositories and platforms, while treating them as authoritative identifiers helps maintain accurate and up-to-date records. This contributes to a more robust, transparent, and FAIR-aligned data ecosystem.

It is recommended, that data infrastructures:

1. allow to record an IGSN to identify samples and parent samples within their data systems, and make this data part of the metadata available for harvesting.
2. treat IGSN metadata as the primary source of truth within their data systems, and update the internal metadata accordingly as necessary.

IGSNs need to be registered with samples. Staff needs to be aware of IGSN procedures.

Parent: Recommendation to use IGSN as the standard reference in technical infrastructures to samples where appropriate

Dependent: none

Other: none

Emanuel Soeding (lead)

* Please keep the lead author informed about any possible changes in this wiki.

Today, IGSNs are supported by a growing international infrastructure, including allocating agents and resolving services, and are already in use by major repositories and infrastructures such as SESAR2, PANGAEA, and GFZ Data Services. Operational procedures and tools now exist to automate IGSN registration and integrate it into data workflows (see [1] Baldewein et al. (2023). FAIR WISH D7 -Standard Operating Procedure for automatic IGSN registration. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10401380).

For data infrastructures, enabling the recording and harvesting of IGSNs strengthens metadata quality and ensures the persistent identification of samples and their relationships. Treating IGSN metadata as the authoritative source improves consistency, facilitates interoperability across systems, and enhances discoverability of sample-based data. This contributes to a more connected and sustainable research data ecosystem.

See a brief discussion of alternative identifiers which could be used instead of IGSNs.

See the general discussion of advantages and challenges implementing IGSNs in the recommended way.

It is recommended, that data infrastructures:

1. allow to record an IGSN to identify samples and parent samples within their data systems, and make this data part of the metadata available for harvesting.
2. treat IGSN metadata as the primary source of truth within their data systems, and update the internal metadata accordingly as necessary.

[1] Baldewein et al. (2023). FAIR WISH D7 -Standard Operating Procedure for automatic IGSN registration. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10401380