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Constellation FAQs

What is Constellation?

The Constellation data portal is a service of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) that allows users to access and publish datasets associated with research projects within, or in coordination with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Data submissions may be from any scientific domain. Datasets are carefully reviewed and then made available to researchers and the public around the world.

For questions and help with data deposits, email doi_support@ornl.gov

 

What is a DOI? How do I use one?

Datasets are assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) and submitted to DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) for inclusion in the DOE Data Explorer. A DOI is a unique and persistent alphanumeric identifier used to identify and resolve digital "objects" such as articles, reports, and datasets. The OLCF's Constellation data portal allows public users to browse, search, and download objects associated with DOIs published from within OLCF.

Only authenticated users may create and publish DOIs via the Constellation Portal, and all submitted DOIs and associated documents and/or data will be subject to review and approval by ORNL staff prior to publication.

Once a dataset has been approved and submitted to OSTI, the associated DOI will be registered and become available for use as a pointer to the dataset landing page. Include the dataset DOI in citations and related publications in the format "https://doi.org/<doi_here>" (ex. https://doi.org/10.13139/OLCF/1336638).

 

What is the mission of Constellation?

Constellation's mission is to curate, publish, and archive digital research data from any discipline. We provide long-term public access to support research transparency, reproducibility, and to foster new discoveries. Our service is designed to help researchers share their data ethically and to meet the FAIR Guiding Principles (i.e., Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).

 

Why am I getting an error when I try to download a dataset?

In certain circumstances when retrieving data from Constellation, users may encounter errors generated by the Globus data movement software. These errors often do not indicate a serious problem with data transfer; they may reflect data movement delays within Constellation's storage infrastructure or temporary Globus outages. Users encountering such issues are encouraged to retry any failed download requests after a short wait. If errors persist, please contact OLCF User Support.

 

What are the steps needed to publish a dataset on Constellation?

There are seven steps involved in publishing your dataset on Constellation:

  1.         Obtain a Globus ID
  2.         Create your Constellation user account
  3.         Reserve a DOI for your dataset
  4.         Add metadata and create a README
  5.         Add data files and submit your dataset for review 
  6.         Address any questions or concerns about your dataset received from ORNL curators
  7.        Receive notification that your dataset has been published

Staff members of Oak Ridge National Laboratory should also follow relevant SBMS procedures to Review and Release Scientific and Technical Information (https://sbms.ornl.gov/sbms/SBMSearch/SubjArea/publication/pro1.cfm). A submission workflow for datasets is available in RESolution, where submitters will be asked to provide the DOI that has been reserved in Constellation.
 

How do I publish my dataset on Constellation?


 1. Obtain a Globus ID

a. If you don't already have a Globus ID, go to https://globusid.org/create and fill in the form to create a Globus ID. 

b. You will be asked to verify your email address.

c. Once your email address is verified, your Globus ID can be found under Settings > Account > Identity. It should be in the form of [globus_username]@globusid.org


 

2. Create your Constellation user account

a. Click on the REGISTER button on the Constellation website

b. Enter your Globus ID and review and accept the User Agreement

c. You will be taken to your account dashboard


 

3. Reserve a DOI for your dataset

a. Start the process of adding your dataset by clicking on the "Reserve new DOI" button in your user dashboard.

b. Enter a draft Title for your dataset.

c. Indicate whether the data you are submitting was created using resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF).

d. Click Save. Your dataset and reserved DOI will now be visible in your dashboard under "Draft datasets."

NOTE: This step does not actually create a DOI - rather, it creates a request record with OSTI that will be finalized when the dataset is published. Prior to submitting a DOI for review, you can update the DOI metadata and data files as many times as needed.

 

 4. Add metadata

In your user dashboard, find your dataset under "Draft datasets" and click the "add" button under "Metadata." This will open a form that enables entry of metadata to be associated with the new DOI. The fields of this form are described below:


Title (required) A short descriptive title that will help users understand what the dataset contains.

Authors (required) You can add multiple authors to the DOI, and you must have at least one author. Fill out all required fields for each author including: First Name, Last Name, Affiliation, and E-mail.

DOE Contract Nos (required) The Department of Energy contract number under which the work was funded. This field is validated against the OSTI contract authority. Multiple DOE contract numbers may be entered, separated by a semicolon. Invalid and non-DOE contract numbers should instead be entered in the 'Other Contract Nos' field.

Other Contract Nos (optional) Other contract numbers that do not fit elsewhere in the form, including ORNL and non-DOE funding identifiers. Multiple contract numbers may be entered in this text field.

Originating Organization (required) The name of the organization that performed the research or issued the dataset.

Sponsor Orgs. (required) The name of the organization that sponsored (provided funding) for the dataset.

Contributing Orgs (optional) Any organizations that contributed to the dataset through significant review, site management, data collection, etc.

Dataset Type (required) The data's main or most important content type.

Subject(s) (optional) The subject identifies the scientific discipline of the DOI. Please see the OSTI Elink Subject Categories website for more information. Multiple subjects may be selected.

Keywords (optional) Terms that describe the content of the DOI's dataset and help users discover the data. More than one term may be entered in this text field.

Description (required) Long description of the DOI being created, similar to an abstract.

Software Needed (optional) Any software needed to access the dataset contents. 

OLCF Project Identifier (required) The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility project ID assigned to the research associated with the DOI. Project identifiers are usually six alphanumeric digits, such as 'ABC001'. If the project was not funded by OLCF, do not complete this field.

Product Nos. (optional) Product Numbers identifying the dataset that have been assigned by either the originating/submitting organization or by the organization currently hosting the data.

Other Identifying Nos. (optional) Any other identifying numbers that do not fit anywhere else in this form.

Related Identifiers (optional) The DOI being created may be related to other DOIs or web content. Select whether the related identifier is a DOI or URL, provide the identifier link, and select a phrase that communicates the relationship of the Constellation dataset to the related item.

 

c. When all required fields are complete, click the “Save” button to save the DOI request as a draft. If any required field is omitted, you will see a “Data Entry Error” alert indicating the error. To resolve the issue just enter the missing information in the form and click the "Save" button again.

5. Add data files and submit your dataset for review

a. You can access the Globus endpoint for your DOI reservation by clicking the "upload" link in your user dashboard table of reserved DOIs. This will link to a root directory where you can upload your data files to staging.

b. A README file is recommended for inclusion with all data deposits. A README provides additional context and citation information for your dataset, and should help future researchers understand and reuse your data. If you do not have an existing README file, a Constellation curator can share our template via email (doi_support@ornl.gov).

b. Add your data files and completed README document to the Globus directory for your dataset.

c. To send your dataset for curator review and publication, open the metadata form, change the dropdown status at bottom of page to "Needs Approval" and click "Save."

6. Address any questions or concerns about your dataset received from ORNL curators

a. DOIs that are created using the OLCF Constellation Portal are reviewed prior to publication by a member of the Constellation Data Curation team. Curators check metadata and documentation for completion and make suggestions to improve data discoverability and reuse. You will be contacted if the curator has any concerns or is requesting changes to the dataset.

b. Datasets may be approved, rejected, or encounter a failure in the issue process. You will be contacted by a curator if your dataset is rejected or the issue process has failed.

c. Your account dashboard will display a list of datasets that are in the process of being uploaded, reviewed and published. Each dataset will indicate its current status:

        i. Draft (you are working on it)

        ii. Submitted for approval (dataset has been submitted for review and approval)

        iii. Approved (dataset has been approved and is being moved to the data repository)

        iv. Published (available for download)
 

 

7. Receive notification that your dataset has been published

Once your dataset has been approved and it has been moved to the ORNL data archive, its status will change to "Published" and it will be made available for download by anyone. You will receive an email once the DOI has been transmitted to OSTI for activation.