TY - JOUR T1 - Identifiers for the 21st century: How to design, provision, and reuse persistent identifiers to maximize utility and impact of life science data JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/117812 SP - 117812 AU - Julie A McMurry AU - Nick Juty AU - Niklas Blomberg AU - Tony Burdett AU - Tom Conlin AU - Nathalie Conte AU - Mélanie Courtot AU - John Deck AU - Michel Dumontier AU - Donal K Fellows AU - Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran AU - Philipp Gormanns AU - Jeffrey Grethe AU - Janna Hastings AU - Henning Hermjakob AU - Jean-Karim Hériché AU - Jon C Ison AU - Rafael C Jimenez AU - Simon Jupp AU - John Kunze AU - Camille Laibe AU - Nicolas Le Novère AU - James Malone AU - Maria Jesus Martin AU - Johanna R McEntyre AU - Chris Morris AU - Juha Muilu AU - Wolfgang Müller AU - Philippe Rocca-Serra AU - Susanna-Assunta Sansone AU - Murat Sariyar AU - Jacky L Snoep AU - Natalie J Stanford AU - Stian Soiland-Reyes AU - Neil Swainston AU - Nicole Washington AU - Alan R Williams AU - Sarala Wimalaratne AU - Lilly Winfree AU - Katherine Wolstencroft AU - Carole Goble AU - Christopher J Mungall AU - Melissa A Haendel AU - Helen Parkinson Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/20/117812.abstract N2 - In many disciplines, data is highly decentralized across thousands of online databases (repositories, registries, and knowledgebases). Wringing value from such databases depends on the discipline of data science and on the humble bricks and mortar that make integration possible; identifiers are a core component of this integration infrastructure. Drawing on our experience and on work by other groups, we outline ten lessons we have learned about the identifier qualities and best practices that facilitate large-scale data integration. Specifically, we propose actions that identifier practitioners (database providers) should take in the design, provision and reuse of identifiers; we also outline important considerations for those referencing identifiers in various circumstances, including by authors and data generators. While the importance and relevance of each lesson will vary by context, there is a need for increased awareness about how to avoid and manage common identifier problems, especially those related to persistence and web-accessibility/resolvability. We focus strongly on web-based identifiers in the life sciences; however, the principles are broadly relevant to other disciplines. ER -