The MIEM guidelines: Minimum information for reporting of environmental metabarcoding data

By

Klymus, Katy E.
Baker, Jacoby D.
Abbott, Cathryn L.
Brown, Rachel J.
Craine, Joseph M.
Gold, Zachary
Hunter, Margaret E.
Johnson, Mark D.
Jones, Devin N.
Jungbluth, Michelle J.
Jungbluth, Sean P.
Lor, Yer
Maloy, Aaron P.
Merkes, Christopher M.
Noble, Rachel
Patin, Nastassia V.
Sepulveda, Adam J.
Spear, Stephen F.
Steele, Joshua A.
Takahashi, Miwa
Watts, Alison W.
Theroux, Susanna

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-12-30

Original Publication

Metabarcoding and metagenomics

Volume

8

Pages

1--30

Subjects

Edna , eRNA , FAIR data standards , metadata , Quality control , reproducibility

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2017-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.8.128689

 

Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) and RNA (eRNA) metabarcoding has become a popular tool for assessing biodiversity from environmental samples, but inconsistent documentation of methods, data and metadata makes results difficult to reproduce and synthesise. A working group of scientists have collaborated to produce a set of minimum reporting guidelines for the constituent steps of metabarcoding workflows, from the physical layout of laboratories through to data archiving. We emphasise how reporting the suite of data and metadata should adhere to findable, accessible, interoperable and reproducible (FAIR) data standards, thereby providing context for evaluating and understanding study results. An overview of the documentation considerations for each workflow step is presented and then summarised in a checklist that can accompany a published study or report. Ensuring workflows are transparent and documented is critical to reproducible research and should allow for more efficient uptake of metabarcoding data into management decision-making.