Table 1 The BRIF initiative [1,12,19]
From: Developing a guideline to standardize the citation of bioresources in journal articles (CoBRA)
Organization and multidisciplinary competences | |
|---|---|
The BRIF initiative is developing a framework to recognize and measure the use and impact of biological resources in health research. The BRIF working group consists of 135 members from 22 countries, most of whom are either European (86) or North-American (31). A broad range of experts are participating, including biobankers, clinicians, genomic/genetic scientists, epidemiologists, computer scientists, jurists, lawyers, ethicists, experts in information, bibliometricists, and journal editors; they are represented in different BRIF subgroups. | |
General aims | • Promoting the sharing of data and biological samples |
• Recognizing the work (human resources/infrastructure) involved in setting up and maintaining a valid bioresource | |
• Providing more complete information on the bioresources used in research | |
Strategies | • Standardizing the citation of bioresources in scientific articles in order to trace their use on the web |
• Creating a tool (BRIF indicator) to establish the frequency of a bioresource’s use and evaluate its impact based on quantitative metrics and on the use of a unique digital resource identifier (ID) | |
Working subgroups | |
• BRIF and digital identifiers | Exploring and assessing existing and emerging technical solutions suitable for bioresource identification, as well as addressing key related questions, including what to identify (biobank projects, sample collections, databases, datasets, registries) and which body or bodies should be responsible for assigning bioresource IDs |
• BRIF parameters | Identifying potential factors to take into account when calculating the BRIF indicator |
• BRIF in sharing policies | Developing an appropriate set of recommendations (BRIF procedure) to consider in developing and implementing bioresource access and sharing policies |
• BRIF and Journal editors | Relating with scientific journal editors to standardize bioresource citation in journal articles and amending the corresponding editorial guidelines |
• BRIF dissemination | Communication and dissemination of information related to the BRIF initiative |
Pilot projects | |
To support the adoption of bioresource citation standards, BRIF participates in two pilot projects: | |
• The creation of the open access journal Open Journal of Bioresources [20], which publishes peer reviewed articles (‘marker papers’) that describe bioresources in detail according to a standardized template. The Digital Object Identifier of the marker paper can identify the bioresource and provide a way of automatically tracking the use of bioresources in academic literature | |
• Testing the use of a unique bioresource ID in the research community, attributed through the Public Population Project in Genomics and Society [21] in partnership with the European project BioSHaRE (Biobank Standardisation and Harmonisation for Research Excellence in the European Union) [22]. | |