💡 Consider reading about the ARC
💡 This guide only shows the ISA file types and only slightly touches their content. Check out the annotation principles to learn more about the building blocks used in ISA files.
💡 For more details about the ISA model, please also refer to ISA tools (https://isa-tools.org/) and ISA specifications (https://isa-specs.readthedocs.io/).

ARC builds on ISA

The ARC builds on the ISA Abstract Model

for metadata annotation. Briefly, the ISA model comes with a hierarchy (ISA: Investigation - Study - Assay) that aligns well with most projects in (plant) biology labs. It allows to group multiple assays to one study, and multiple studies to one investigation.

Image source (left panel): https://isa-tools.org/format/specification.html

Your ARC has one isa.investigation.xlsx workbook at its root (i.e. every ARC collects the data to one investigation). Each study or assay that you add to your ARC contains one isa.study.xlsx or isa.assay.xlsx, respectively.

ISA-Tab for intuitive collection of metadata

The most user-intuitive format of the ISA metadata framework is ISA-Tab

. As the name suggest, it's a tabular format. Hence, you can view the files in a spread-sheet program of choice.

Comparison of the ISA file types. Grey cells: keys. White cells: values.

The major difference between the ISA workbooks is their read-direction:

isa.investigation.xlsx is read top-to-bottom (keys on the left, values extending to the right)
isa.study.xlsx and isa.assay.xlsx left-to-right (keys on top, value extending to the bottom)

A registry to your ARC

The isa.investigation.xlsx allows to store metadata relevant on the investigation-level (e.g. title, date, contributor and publication details of the investigation). In addition, it functions as a "registry" to your ARC.

Each study (isa.study.xlsx) and assay (isa.assay.xlsx) of your ARC as well as a summary of metadata contained in them are registered and listed in the isa.investigation.xlsx.

The isa.investigation.xlsx functions as registry to your ARC.

💡 When opening the isa.investigation.xlsx for the first time, it may be necessary to widen the first column to make the entries visible.

Communicate how your processes connect

The output of one study or assay can function as the input to another study or assay. By using the same unique identifiers across your isa.study.xlsx and isa.assay.xlsx workbooks, respectively, you can communicate how the experimental processes and workflows connect.

Use unique identifiers across ISA files to connect your workflows.

You can point to data files

By linking files stored in your ARC (e.g. raw data files in a dataset folder), you can let others know which experimental workflow was followed to produce these data files.

DataPLANT Support

Besides these technical solutions, DataPLANT supports you with community-engaged data stewardship. For further assistance, feel free to reach out via our helpdesk or by contacting us directly .

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