Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41597-025-05126-1
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Metadata practices for simulation workflows
Author Villamar, J.; Kelbling, M.; More, H.L.; Denker, M.; Tetzlaff, T.; Senk, J.; Thober, S.
Source Titel Scientific Data
Year 2025
Department CHS
Volume 12
Page From art. 942
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1069202
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13442425
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13585723
Abstract Computer simulations are an essential pillar of knowledge generation in science. Exploring, understanding, reproducing, and sharing the results of simulations relies on tracking and organizing the metadata describing the numerical experiments. The models used to understand real-world systems, and the computational machinery required to simulate them, are typically complex, and produce large amounts of heterogeneous metadata. Here, we present general practices for acquiring and handling metadata that are agnostic to software and hardware, and highly flexible for the user. These consist of two steps: 1) recording and storing raw metadata, and 2) selecting and structuring metadata. As a proof of concept, we develop the Archivist, a Python tool to help with the second step, and use it to apply our practices to distinct high-performance computing use cases from neuroscience and hydrology. Our practices and the Archivist can readily be applied to existing workflows without the need for substantial restructuring. They support sustainable numerical workflows, fostering replicability, reproducibility, data exploration, and data sharing in simulation-based research.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=30916
Villamar, J., Kelbling, M., More, H.L., Denker, M., Tetzlaff, T., Senk, J., Thober, S. (2025):
Metadata practices for simulation workflows
Sci. Data 12 , art. 942 10.1038/s41597-025-05126-1