Skip to content

meta

The meta block captures descriptive information about the protocol: authorship, licensing, visibility, and how the work fits within wider registries.

Field Reference

Field Type Required Units Allowed Types Constraints / Enum Example
title string ✅ - string Free text "DNA Extraction"
authors[] list\ ✅ - array Each { name, organization?, role?, website? } [{ name: "Dr. Alice" }]
lab string ✅ - string Institution or facility "Tropic Biology Lab"
website string optional - URL Project or protocol URL "https://labfile.bio/p/123"
date date optional - ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD "2025-10-30"
license string ✅ - string SPDX/CC identifier (e.g., CC-BY-4.0) "CC-BY-4.0"
language string optional - string ISO 639-1 language code "en"
review_status string optional - enum draft, approved, deprecated, archived "draft"
visibility string ✅ - enum public, internal, private "public"
derived_from list optional - array[string] DOIs or Labfile IDs ["10.5281/zenodo.1234567"]
FAIR_status boolean/string optional - bool/enum true, "compliant", "non_compliant" true
compliance list optional - array[string] "GLP", "GMP", "FAIR", "ISO-9001" ["GLP"]

How to Use Each Field

authors[] should be ordered by contribution. Include persistent IDs where possible (orcid, ror, grid).

Example:

authors:
  - name: "Dr. Alice Smith"
    orcid: "0000-0002-1234-5678"
    organization: "Tropic Biology Lab"
    role: "lead"

review_status maps to your governance workflow:

  • draft - working copy not yet validated.
  • approved - ready for distribution.
  • deprecated - superseded, kept for history.
  • archived - retired, not intended for reuse.

visibility controls publication scope:

  • public - registry discoverable and requires signatures.
  • internal - organization-only access; signatures recommended.
  • private - local sandbox; validation metadata optional.

FAIR_status can be a boolean or controlled string. Use true for fully compliant protocols, or provide a status label consumed by your data office.

compliance lists regulatory or quality frameworks satisfied by the protocol (GLP for Good Laboratory Practice, etc.).

derived_from should reference persistent identifiers (DOI, accession ID, or a labfile:// URI) so provenance can be resolved automatically.

Best Practices

  • Keep license aligned with data outputs to avoid downstream conflicts. SPDX is the preferred source.
  • Provide an institutional landing page in website when the protocol has a publication or knowledge base entry.
  • Ensure date reflects the most recent substantive revision to help registries track versioning.
  • Include language for multilingual teams so search indexes can filter by locale.
  • When multiple compliance regimes apply, sort compliance alphabetically for deterministic diffs.

Validation Notes

  • At least one author with name is required; validation fails if array is empty.
  • Enumerated fields reject unknown values (E2xx class errors). Use the wording from the table verbatim.
  • Validators inherit ISO formatting checks for date and URL validation for website.

Additional Reading