The Microbe Directory: a centralized database for biological interpretation of microbiome data is a dataset published in Database (2025). On theSindex it has a DataRank of 0, placing it in the top 100% of the data-sharing corpus. Its calibrated FAIR score is 54/100.
Ranks in the top 100% for downstream scientific impact
DataRank reads this dataset's downstream impact straight off the citation graph — no black box, no proprietary weighting. How is this computed?
FAIR checklist signals are shown for context only and do not affect DataRank scoring.
Full FAIR picture · advisory
The headline score is computed from the scored criteria — the fact-shaped checks (a repository, an accession, a licence) that two independent models agree on. The advisory criteria below are real FAIR guidance but rest on judgment calls that models read differently, so they inform without moving the number.
“Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com”
The paper gives a web address for the data, not a persistent identifier scheme (DOI, Handle, ARK, URN, or repository accession). [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-F1-01D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a persistent identifier' (priorit · RDA-F1-02D — FAIR Data Maturity Model: 'Data is identified by a globally unique identifier' · FsF-F1-02D — F-UJI/FAIRsFAIR: 'Data is assigned a persistent identifier'
“Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com”
The named holder is a project website (www.themicrobedirectory.com) and GitHub, neither of which is a FAIRsharing/re3data listed data repository. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-F4-01M — FAIR Data Maturity Model: metadata is offered so it can be harvested and indexed ( · NIH DMS Policy Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — name the repository where data will be archived · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Long-Term Sustainability', 'Reten
“Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com”
The dataset identifier appears only in the body text (Data availability section), not as a reference-list entry. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]
FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (2014) — data should be cited as a first- · RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes · FsF-F3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes the identifier of the data it describes'
Advisory · not in the published score
“Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com . Raw data from The Microbe Directory domains can be found in GitHub, along with scripts to create main figures, curated lists of species, and Gemini data: https://github.com/mariaasierra/themicrobedirectory”
The data availability statement points to a website and a GitHub repository, not to a repository record with an accession or DOI. [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]
Colavizza, Hrynaszkiewicz, Staden, Whitaker & McGillivray (2020), 'The citation advantage of li · Springer Nature research data policy — Data Availability Statements: standard statement templat · RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes
“The Microbe Directory (TMD) is a centralized database of metadata for microbes from all domains that helps with the biological interpretation of metagenomic data.”
The dataset's content is described in running prose, not as an itemised inventory of files or variables. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-F2-01M — 'Rich metadata is provided to allow discovery' (priority Essential) · FsF-F2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes descriptive core elements to support data findability' · FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'
“Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com”
The data availability statement gives a direct URL with no stated precondition. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-A1.1-01D — 'Data is accessible through a free access protocol' · FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data' · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Free and Easy Access'
Advisory · not in the published score
“Users can filter for particular terms in each column of the database and download the resulting subset as a CSV file.”
The paper describes the action of downloading data from the website but does not label the access level explicitly. [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]
FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data' · RDA-A1-01M — metadata contains information to enable the user to get access to the data · COAR Controlled Vocabularies — Access Rights v1.0 (open / embargoed / restricted / metadata-onl
The data are not sensitive human-subject data; no gatekeeper is named.
NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-14-124) — controlled-access via a Data Access Committee · RDA-A1.2-01D — 'Data is accessible through an access protocol that supports authentication and · NIH DMS Policy Element 5 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations (conse
No statement about when the data are available or how long they persist. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]
NIH DMS Plan Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines · NSTC Desirable Characteristics (2022), Organizational Infrastructure: 'Retention Policy' · RDA-A2-01M — 'Metadata is guaranteed to remain available after data is no longer available'
“users can download the resulting subset as a CSV file.”— not found in the paper; verdict downgraded
CSV is an open, community-standard format. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]
FsF-R1.3-02D — F-UJI: 'Data is available in a file format recommended by the target research co · RDA-R1.3-02D — data is expressed in a machine-understandable community standard · RDA-I1-01D — data uses a knowledge representation expressed in a standardised format
Advisory · not in the published score
No data or metadata community standard (e.g., MIAME, ISA-Tab, ontology) is named for the dataset; only generic terms are used. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-R1.3-01M — 'Metadata complies with a community standard' (priority Essential) · RDA-R1.3-01D — 'Data complies with a community standard' · RDA-I2-01M — '(Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles'
“Accession numbers for all samples can be found in Supplementary Table 2.”— not found in the paper; verdict downgraded
The paper references external datasets via accession numbers in a supplementary table. [downgraded to 'no' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-I3-01M — '(meta)data include references to other (meta)data' · RDA-I3-03M — 'metadata includes qualified references to other metadata' · FsF-I3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes links between the data and its related entities'
No licence is named for the data; the CC BY licence applies to the article only, not the dataset.
RDA-R1.1-01M — 'Metadata includes information about the licence under which the data can be reu · RDA-R1.1-02M — 'Metadata refers to a standard reuse licence' · RDA-R1.1-03M — 'Metadata refers to a machine-understandable reuse licence'
No version token or date is given for the dataset; the data are referred to without a specific snapshot identifier.
DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — the 'Version' property · RDA-R1.2-01M — provenance information (which version was used is provenance) · NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Provenance', 'Retention Policy'
“https://github.com/mariaasierra/themicrobedirectory”
A machine-resolvable code repository URL is given for the study's own scripts. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]
NIH DMS Policy Element 2 (NOT-OD-21-014) — 'Related Tools, Software and/or Code' · FAIR4RS Principles v1.0 (Chue Hong et al., 2022; RDA/FORCE11/ReSA) — FAIR Principles for Resear · FORCE11 Software Citation Principles (Smith, Katz & Niemeyer, 2016, PeerJ CS 2:e86)
“C.E.M. was supported by the National Institutes of Health (U01DA053941, U54AG089334, R01AI151059), NASA (80NSSC24K0728, 80NSSC24K1052), and the WorldQuant Foundation.”
Award numbers are provided for each named funder. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]
DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — 'FundingReference' property (funderName, funderIdentifier, award · Crossref Funder Registry — canonical funder identifiers for funding metadata · RDA-F2-01M — rich metadata provided to allow discovery (funding is part of the descriptive reco
Advisory · not in the published score
“volunteers submitted their microbial annotations in a customized survey in KoboToolBox”
The paper names specific tools (KoboToolBox, custom scripts, Gemini AI) used to produce the data. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-R1.2-01M — 'Metadata includes provenance information according to community- specific standa · FsF-R1.2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes provenance information about data creation or generati · W3C PROV-O (W3C Recommendation, 2013) — the entity/activity/agent model of provenance
“The database provides information on 42 microbial features such as the type of genetic material in viruses and the type of Gram-staining for bacteria”
Variable definitions are given inside the article text, not as a separate documentation object shipped with the data. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]
RDA-R1-01M — '(Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attribu · FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data' · NIH DMS Policy Element 3 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Standards (documentation and metadata to accompany t
Calibrated FAIR score — a parallel quality metric, independent of the DataRank citation score. See the full evaluation →