3D MICROSCOPY METADATA STANDARDS (3D-MMS)

The 3D Microscopy Metadata Standards (3D-MMS) , developed by the BRAIN 3D Microscopy Working Group, helps ensure that a 3D microscopy dataset is sufficiently described to support its’ re-use by scientists who did not generate the data. Adoption of 3D-MMS will aid investigators who want to share data, helping them to evaluate and decide which data can be combined.

The metadata fields are organized into seven categories: Contributors, Funders, Publication, Instrument, Dataset, Specimen, and Image.  Each metadata field is specified by a name, definition, a list of allowable values, whether it is required, and the number of times it can be repeated for a dataset.  The tables below also indicate whether the metadata field supports assignment of a digital object identifier (DOI) to the dataset and whether there are equivalent standards in the DataCite metadata schema and the Open Microscopy Environment.

A manuscript describing 3D-MMS is available here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.09158.

A JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Specification for 3D-MMS is available here: https://github.com/Defining-Our-Research-Methodology-DORy/3D-Microscopy-Metadata-Standards-3D-MMS