Recent version:
- Version 4.0 / 19.05.2025 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15607293
Previous version:
- Version: 3.0 / 03.05.2024 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7099881
- Version: 2.0 / 20.09.2022 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7040047
- Version: 1.0 / 15.11.2019 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3559800
This repository contains the DataCite Best Practice Guide, along with example files from various projects, supporting images, and configuration files. The guide is also available on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3559800 A publication accompanying the guide is available with Korpus im Text.
The document was created with participation from the following institutions/projects:
- IT-Gruppe Geisteswissenschaften (LMU)
- Leibniz Supercomputing Centre
- Max Weber Stiftung - Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland
- Universitätsbibliothek der FAU
- Universitätsbibliothek der LMU München
- VerbaAlpina
- .github/workflows/publish.yml: Configuration of GitHub Actions (publication workflow, see: https://quarto.org/docs/publishing/github-pages.html)
- examples/*.xml: Example metadata files structured in XML format, each demonstrating metadata from different projects.
- images/: Images used within the DataCite Best Practice Guide or on the Website (e.g. favicon).
- _quarto.yaml: Defines the structure and settings of this Quarto project. It specifies the website format, output options (HTML and PDF), styling, navigation, and metadata. This file ensures consistent rendering and simplifies project configuration.
- .gitignore: Lists files and directories that should not be tracked by Git.
- bestpractice.qmd: The source file in Quarto Markdown format, used to develop the DataCite Best Practice Guide based on the DataCite Metadata Schema.
- CITATION.cff: Povides standardized citation information.
- Licence.txt: The licensing terms for the repository contents.
- README.md: Explanation of the repository structure and contents (this file).
Use this repository as a reference for implementing or understanding the DataCite metadata schema. You can view or edit the .qmd file with Quarto and regenerate the website and PDF as needed.
This project uses GitHub Actions to automatically build and publish the Quarto website and PDF on every push to the 4.6 branch on GitHub (see Quarto: Publishing).
The workflow:
- Checks out the repository
- Sets up Quarto and LaTeX (TinyTeX)
- Renders the HTML and PDF versions of the site
- Publishes the output to GitHub Pages via the
gh-pages branch
This ensures that the latest version is always available online without manually committing generated files.
The bestpractice.qmd file is based on standard Markdown syntax, with only a few Quarto-specific elements. It can also be saved and edited as a .md (Markdown) file, allowing you to work with it in both Markdown editors and the Quarto publishing workflow.
Environment used: Quarto 1.7.31 with Visual Studio Code 1.101.1
The Quarto file is configured to generate a HTML version as well as a PDF version of the Quarto file (.qmd), using Pandoc as technical backbone.
The Quarto file contains a header that defines the output formats and some configuration options (Quarto: PDF Options, Quarto: HTML Options). The content of the file is formatted in Markdown (Quarto: Markdown Basics).
To render the file, the following prerequisites are needed:
- Download Quarto
- Install a LaTeX distribution (for PDF generation): xelatex
- The following command creates generates the HTML and the PDF:
quarto render bestpractice.qmd
The output files (index.html and datacite-best-practice-guide.pdf) will appear in a newly created folder called _site.
A preview can also be launched using shortcuts in VS Code (e.g. Preview button).
Note: Sometimes there are issues with automatic hyphenation (words may be separated incorrectly). This needs to be corrected manually by inserting hyphens in the appropriate places in the .qmd file. After updates, briefly check whether the hyphenation is correct and if there are any unnecessary hyphens in the running text.