ISO 21710-2020 PDF

Full title and description

ISO 21710:2020 — Biotechnology — Specification on data management and publication in microbial resource centers. This international standard defines requirements and recommendations to ensure consistent formatting, quality control and effective publication of microbial collection data held by microbial resource centres (MRCs), enabling improved data sharing, discoverability and integration of microbial material and associated information.

Abstract

This document specifies requirements for data management and publication in microbial resource centres (MRCs) to enable consistent formatting and a quality-control workflow that improves overall data quality. It provides recommendations to facilitate accessioning, acquisition, authentication, preservation, storage and distribution of microbial material and associated data, and is intended for use by MRCs, regulatory authorities, organizations and peer-assessment schemes recognizing competence in data management and publication. The standard notes that international, national or regional regulations may also apply to specific topics covered.

General information

• Status: Published.
• Publication date: 9 November 2020 (ISO publication stage recorded as 2020-11-09).
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO); developed under ISO/TC 276 Biotechnology.
• ICS / categories: 07.080 (Biology. Botany. Zoology).
• Edition / version: Edition 1 (2020).
• Number of pages: 25 (ISO published edition).

Core bibliographic and lifecycle details as published on the ISO record.

Scope

ISO 21710:2020 applies to microbial resource centres (MRCs) and specifies requirements and recommendations for managing and publishing data about microbial materials and their associated information. The scope covers data formats, metadata capture and quality-control workflows intended to support accessioning, authentication, preservation, storage and distribution of microbial resources, and to improve data sharing and integration across collections and databases. It is intended to be complementary to applicable regulatory or national requirements.

Key topics and requirements

• Data management requirements for microbial resource centres, including consistent data formatting and metadata capture.
• Specification of a quality-control workflow to validate and improve dataset quality before publication or exchange.
• Support for procedures such as accessioning, acquisition, authentication, preservation, storage and distribution of microbial material.
• Recommendations for data publication and sharing to enable interoperability and integration with external databases and services.
• Guidance for MRCs, regulatory authorities and peer-assessment schemes to assess competence in data management and publication.
• Notes on compliance with applicable international, national or regional regulations affecting microbial data and material sharing.

Typical use and users

Primary users are microbial resource centres, culture collections and biorepositories that manage and distribute microbial strains or materials. Secondary users include research institutes, bioinformatics teams, data curators, regulatory authorities, accreditation and peer-assessment bodies, and organizations building or aggregating microbial datasets (e.g., biodiversity and genomic data services). The standard helps these users implement consistent metadata and quality-control practices to make microbial data more discoverable and reusable.

Related standards

ISO 21710:2020 was developed within ISO/TC 276 (Biotechnology) and is complementary to other ISO and community standards addressing biotechnology data, biobanking and microbial/genomic data exchange. It aligns conceptually with community metadata practices used by global microbial catalogues and data centers; the development was led by contributors including the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM) and a drafting team from institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences. For implementation, users commonly consider ISO/TC 276 deliverables and existing domain metadata models to ensure interoperability with other repositories.

Keywords

microbial resource centre, MRC, data management, data publication, metadata, accessioning, authentication, preservation, quality control, microbial collections, ISO/TC 276.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO 21710:2020 is an international standard titled "Biotechnology — Specification on data management and publication in microbial resource centers" that defines requirements and recommendations for how microbial resource centres manage and publish their data.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers consistent data formatting, metadata capture, a quality-control workflow for dataset quality, and recommendations to facilitate accessioning, authentication, preservation, storage and distribution of microbial materials and associated data. It also clarifies that relevant national or regional regulations may apply.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Microbial resource centres and culture collections are the primary users; researchers, data curators, database managers, regulatory authorities and accreditation/peer-assessment schemes also use it to assess or improve data management and publication practices.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: As published by ISO, ISO 21710:2020 is a current International Standard issued in November 2020 (publication recorded 9 November 2020). Users should check the ISO catalogue or national standards bodies for any later revisions or updates.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: ISO 21710:2020 was developed under ISO/TC 276 (Biotechnology) and is intended to work alongside other biotechnology and biobanking standards and community metadata initiatives; it is not presented as a numbered multi-part series but as a complementary deliverable within the broader ISO/TC 276 work programme.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Key keywords include microbial resource centre, MRC, data management, metadata, accessioning, authentication, preservation, data publication, quality control and interoperability.