Publishing peer review materials.

Publishing peer review materials alongside research articles promises to make the peer review process more transparent as well as making it easier to recognise these contributions and give credit to peer reviewers. Traditionally, the peer review reports, editors letters and author responses are only shared between the small number of people in those roles prior to publication, but there is a growing interest in making some or all of these materials available. A small number of journals have been publishing peer review materials for some time, others have begun this practice more recently, and significantly more are now considering how they might begin. This article outlines the outcomes from a recent workshop among journals with experience in publishing peer review materials, in which the specific operation of these workflows, and the challenges, were discussed. Here, we provide a draft as to how to represent these materials in the JATS and Crossref data models to facilitate the coordination and discoverability of peer review materials, and seek feedback on these initial recommendations.

The EMBL-EBI channel.

This editorial introduces the EMBL-EBI channel in F1000Research. The aims of the channel are to present EMBL-EBI outputs and collate research published on F1000Research contributed, in whole or in part, EMBL-EBI researchers.

Identifying ELIXIR Core Data Resources.

The core mission of ELIXIR is to build a stable and sustainable infrastructure for biological information across Europe. At the heart of this are the data resources, tools and services that ELIXIR offers to the life-sciences community, providing stable and sustainable access to biological data. ELIXIR aims to ensure that these resources are available long-term and that the life-cycles of these resources are managed such that they support the scientific needs of the life-sciences, including biological research. ELIXIR Core Data Resources are defined as a set of European data resources that are of fundamental importance to the wider life-science community and the long-term preservation of biological data. They are complete collections of generic value to life-science, are considered an authority in their field with respect to one or more characteristics, and show high levels of scientific quality and service. Thus, ELIXIR Core Data Resources are of wide applicability and usage. This paper describes the structures, governance and processes that support the identification and evaluation of ELIXIR Core Data Resources. It identifies key indicators which reflect the essence of the definition of an ELIXIR Core Data Resource and support the promotion of excellence in resource development and operation. It describes the specific indicators in more detail and explains their application within ELIXIR's sustainability strategy and science policy actions, and in capacity building, life-cycle management and technical actions. The identification process is currently being implemented and tested for the first time. The findings and outcome will be evaluated by the ELIXIR Scientific Advisory Board in March 2017. Establishing the portfolio of ELIXIR Core Data Resources and ELIXIR Services is a key priority for ELIXIR and publicly marks the transition towards a cohesive infrastructure.