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Publish to GBIF

Checklists/Publish

Publishing goes through a GBIF-registered IPT (Integrated Publishing Toolkit) — GBIF doesn't accept checklist uploads directly. Click through the five steps below to see each screen.

The Publisher step, showing the organization and contact that GBIF will credit for the dataset
  1. 1

    Publisher

    A publisher is simply whoever GBIF holds accountable for the dataset — the organization or person it credits and contacts. Every checklist needs one attached before GBIF will register it. See Publisher in the glossary, or register directly with GBIF if your organization isn't endorsed yet.

  2. 2

    Publishing Partner

    Based on the checklist's region, Checklist Hub lists the nearby GBIF-registered publishersthat can host it — a national GBIF node, museum, or university running its own IPT — so you don't have to go hunting for one yourself. See Publishing Partner for why you'd use one instead of your own IPT.

  3. 3

    Package

    A readiness checklist — Metadata Complete, Taxonomy Validated, Citation Ready, DwC-A and EML generated — then download the package before moving on. In plain terms, a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) is just a zip file built the way GBIF expects it: one master species list plus a couple of housekeeping files that tell GBIF how to read the rest. See Darwin Core Archive for what's inside it.

  4. 4

    Publish

    Upload the package to the IPT and publish it there — the IPT is what actually registers the dataset with GBIF. An IPT (Integrated Publishing Toolkit)is GBIF's own upload software; every dataset has to pass through one, since GBIF doesn't accept files directly. See IPT for how to get access to one.

    1. 4.1Log in to the publishing partner's IPT.
    2. 4.2Create a new resource, set its type to Checklist Dataset.
    3. 4.3Import existing Darwin Core Archive, and upload the downloaded package.
    4. 4.4The IPT reads the metadata automatically — review it on the resource's overview page.
    5. 4.5Click Publish, then Register, to send the dataset to GBIF.org.
    6. 4.6Copy the dataset's URL for the next step.
  5. 5

    Register

    Paste the dataset's URL back into Checklist Hub — this marks the checklist Published and records the DOI and citation against it for good.

See Darwin Core, IPT & GBIF for what a GBIF checklist dataset is and what's inside the archive.

Darwin Core FormatChecklist Organizer