Experiments Metadata Standards - Checklist v1 Scope Statement^[a]

The Experiments Metadata Standard Group focuses on defining a minimal set of metadata properties for genomic datasets, to make it usable in a variety of contexts, particularly for discovery and analysis. These are intrinsic to the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse) principles.

While the term “metadata” can be very broad (data that describes data), this Discovery Workstream subgroup exclusively focuses on the properties of the methodology and equipment  used in a genomic experiment, and more precisely on library preparation and instrument run. It provides context around the preparation of biological samples into libraries for a given laboratory experiment run, and the execution context for that run. Interoperability with other GA4GH standards will be key to the adoption of the standard.

In the first phase, the group will focus exclusively on genomic sequencing instruments generating reads (high-throughput sequencing experiments, such as WGS, RNA-Seq, and Methyl-Seq). Future specification updates may consider the inclusion of other instruments, quality control metrics and -omics data, such as genotyping arrays, proteomics, and metabolomics, based on the evolving needs within the genomics community. Follow this link to our current working document.

The following topics are therefore considered out of scope (and will remain so): clinical data, biological sample descriptors, downstream data processing, and analysis. The discussions revolve around the content of the checklist, rather than the formats, leaving the latter to the DaMaSC sub-working group.