Data-usage descriptors as search metadata: the case of food security data and the National Data Platform (2015-2025)

Data-usage descriptors as search metadata: the case of food security data and the National Data Platform (2015-2025) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Data-usage descriptors as search metadata: the case of food security data and the National Data Platform (2015-2025) Lauren Chenarides, Rafael Ladislau, Manish Parashar, Simon Porter, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8569040/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Scientific data is a critical input into scientific research. Yet the research data landscape is constantly changing as new datasets emerge, others are retired, or some disappear altogether. Data-usage descriptors can substantially advance research productivity by reducing the time that researchers spend finding new and relevant datasets in their research field. This paper describes how to generate data usage descriptors by finding how datasets are used in publications and then linking the dataset information to the publication metadata. It also shows how usage descriptors can be used to find other related datasets and their usage. It concludes by arguing that the approach represents a critical piece of foundational infrastructure that could be deployed in repositories as part of a referenceable, navigable, and contextual data framework. This article contains a reproducible workflow for constructing data-usage descriptors, based on analyzing the full text of publications in the Dimensions database. The illustrative use case is research on food security. The illustrative repository is the National Data Platform. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8569040","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":599142226,"identity":"2f5136a2-f704-42fd-a4d1-df738f25694c","order_by":0,"name":"Lauren Chenarides","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Colorado State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lauren","middleName":"","lastName":"Chenarides","suffix":""},{"id":599142227,"identity":"e0654f0d-e203-4585-ae3a-24e143354daf","order_by":1,"name":"Rafael Ladislau","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"RL Desenvolvimento de Sistemas LTDA","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rafael","middleName":"","lastName":"Ladislau","suffix":""},{"id":599142228,"identity":"0ea00855-4570-46b8-b33e-b09e8165fe54","order_by":2,"name":"Manish Parashar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Utah","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Manish","middleName":"","lastName":"Parashar","suffix":""},{"id":599142229,"identity":"ab4004ee-2315-47d7-a7e3-1ee4f3951861","order_by":3,"name":"Simon Porter","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Digital Science (United Kingdom)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Simon","middleName":"","lastName":"Porter","suffix":""},{"id":599142230,"identity":"0b211333-07fd-45b9-a3c7-2c2826f45a9c","order_by":4,"name":"Julia Lane","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA10lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgbmhgMMDBZAJvMBiNABgloYQVokgEy2BOK0gDQxQLTwGBCnhXlGYuOBHwwS8ubsPd8e87YxyPHdSCBgx4zEhoM9DBKGO3vObjcGajGWJEbLAR4GCcYNN3K3SQO1JG4gypY/DBL2G+6/eQbSUk+UlsNAW4CG87CBtCQYENTS87DhsIyBRPKGM2lmknPOSRjOPPMAvxbD9uTDH99U2NhuOH74mcSbMht5vuMEbDFsAJHQGGHiAUcQASCP4sofhDWMglEwCkbBCAQA2qpHq7+tVvkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"New York University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julia","middleName":"","lastName":"Lane","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-10 14:53:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8569040/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8569040/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104401449,"identity":"f8d39b4c-d1cd-4a08-b5b1-06373fe891f2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:12:44","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":671072,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"2026.01.09FoodSecurityNature.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8569040/v1_covered_64622284-10ed-4757-a400-95b5b625345b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Data-usage descriptors as search metadata: the case of food security data and the National Data Platform (2015-2025)","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8569040/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8569040/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eScientific data is a critical input into scientific research. 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