Collaboration Guidelines

The MyDiv Experiment is run as an open experimental platform and invites all interested researchers from iDiv’s research consortium and outside of iDiv to collaborate. The MyDiv Experiment also supports young scientists providing a platform for internships as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s theses. Researchers interested in collaborations within the MyDiv Experiment can outline their project idea and inform about required resources by filling out a short Research Proposal form.

The MyDiv Experiment clearly supports data sharing given that data providers and owners get fair credit for their work by citation and/or co-authorship. Data generated within the MyDiv Experiment are regularly uploaded and stored within the MyDiv database. Data are shared upon request when certain criteria are met. Those are specified in the MyDiv Experiment Data Sharing and Publication Policy which collaborators are asked to accept by signing prior to collaboration.

Collaboration in a (big) nutshell:

1. Download the research proposal form, data sharing/publication policy, and paper proposal form
2. Submit a Research Proposal (mandatory)
   Please complete the research proposal form outlining your planned work – this applies to projects with or without fieldwork – and send it to mydiv@idiv.de or olga.ferlian@idiv.de. The proposal will then be shared with the MyDiv consortium, allowing consortium members two weeks to flag potential overlaps or express interest in collaboration. Once approved, you may proceed with your project.

3. Register here at the MyDiv database
   Send a request to mydiv@idiv.de or olga.ferlian@idiv.de. If there are no refusals/objections, the data curator will grant permission for use. You will need to hand in the signed data sharing/publication policy at this point. If you do not plan to download data, you can also register later (data upload).

4. Conduct your field work and/or download data of interest from database
5. Share a Paper Proposal (recommended)
   We strongly encourage you to submit a paper proposal to us once your data analysis is complete. This provides an opportunity to receive valuable input, such as awareness of relevant datasets. The same two-week feedback period applies.

6. Write your paper
7. Circulate your manuscript (mandatory)
   Before submission to a journal, please share the final (or near-final) manuscript with us for circulation within the consortium. This is the final opportunity for colleagues to raise concerns or request co-authorship. Again, please allow a two-week response period.

8. Submit your paper

9. Upload all created data (raw and/or processed data) to database