A - File naming

Prepared by Renske Gudde - IPBES Technical Support Unit (TSU) for Knowledge and Data and Rainer M. Krug - IPBES Task Force on Knowledge and Data. Reviewed by Aidin Niamir and Yanina V. Sica - IPBES Technical Support Unit for Knowledge and Data and the IPBES Task Force on Knowledge and Data (Hanno Seebens and Xubin Pan)

For any inquires please contact [e-mail]

Version: 1.1 Last Updated: 27 February 2024

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10004405

The IPBES assessment process is a lengthy and complex process, spanning over multiple years and involving many contributors and products. It is therefore important to easily track and find files related to the assessment. Here, an IPBES specific file name scheme for the assessments is being proposed.

Files used in IPBES should be named in a consistent and standardised way, while simultaneously informing about the content of the file, to avoid file loss and increase findability of the files, transparency of the final assessments, and reusability. For example, using the filename Fig3.8 or ILK dialogue meeting Asia seems to be informative, but when a user is interested in ILK dialogue meeting reports, it is unclear from which assessment the report comes and when the dialogue meeting took place, and when a user finds ‘Fig3.8’ in the download folder on their computer, the file name does not provide any indication of the contents and topic of that file. Having a standardised way to create file names improves the transparency and findability of information, and also avoids file names like DMR_systematic_review_final_final_JS_final_approved.

Apart from human understanding, the possibility to parse the file names automatically and deduce information about the file is an important second aspect of the naming conventions.

Figure 'Piled higher and deeper' by Jorge Cham.

The recommended naming of files is built up in a similar way as the IBAN codes used by banks, and the proposed file name convention for IPBES products is:

IPBES_[assessment abbreviation]_[chapter]_[document type]_[short description]_[version]

In detail: All sections are required to be filled in.

IPBES: The acronym IPBES should be always present (in capital letters)

[assessment_abbreviation]: the abbreviation of the assessment as was approved during the scoping of the assessment, e.g., IAS for invasive alien species, NXS for the Nexus, TCA for transformative change and BBA for business and biodiversity (in capital letters).

Full Name	Short Name	Abbreviation
Methodological assessment of integrated biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning and ecological connectivity	Spatial planning assessment	SPC
Second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services	Second global assessment	GA2
Methodological assessment on monitoring biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people	Monitoring assessment	MTA
Methodological Assessment of the Impact and Dependence of Business on Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People	Business and biodiversity assessment	BBA
Thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health	Nexus assessment	NXS
Thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity	Transformative change assessment	TCA
Thematic assessment of invasive alien species and their control	Invasive alien species assessment	IAS
Thematic assessment of the sustainable use of wild species	Sustainable use assessment	SUA
Methodological assessment regarding the diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services	Values assessment	VA
Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services	First global assessment	GA1
Assessment of land degradation and restoration	Land degradation assessment	LDR
Regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Africa	Africa assessment	AFA
Regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Americas	Americas assessment	AMA
Regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Asia and the Pacific	Asia and the Pacific assessment	APA
Regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Europe and Central Asia	Europe and Central Asia assessment	ECA
Assessment report on pollinators, pollination and food production	Pollinators assessment	PPA
Methodological assessment report on scenarios and models of biodiversity and ecosystem services	Scenarios and models assessment	SCM

[chapter]: chapter and subchapter number or “SPM”, e.g. “Ch5.2”. This is an optional field; if there is no chapter, use “__” (i.e. two underscores) to keep the file name machine readable.

[document_type] The kind of document it is (e.g., a meeting report, chapter or dataset). Suggested are the following types (a complete list is maintained by the data tsu):

- figure

- table

- data management report

- meeting report

- dialogue workshop report

- dataset

[short_description] should describe the document in preferably 1-5 words (e.g., “dialogue Asia”, “systematic review topic chapter”). Clear descriptions are much easier to use than ambiguous ones, so when it is not possible to add a description in 1-5 words, it is recommended to use more words.

[version] Version in the format as described in the versioning scheme for IPBES products. The version number indicates at which state in the assessment a file was uploaded. It is therefore important to upload a new version (with updated version in the file name) at every milestone. Access to previous versions can be restricted in order to avoid confusion.

The sections are separated with “_”, and multiple words within a section can be separated with “ ” (space).

Examples

Figure

The final, interoperable, version of figure 3.6 that will be submitted to the Plenary, the phylogeny of marine mammals, of the Sea life assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	SLA
Chapter	Ch3
Document type	figure
Short description	Fig 3.6 Phylogeny of marine mammals
Version	v10.0.0

→ IPBES_SLA_Ch3_figure_fig 3.6_Phylogeny of marine mammals_v10.0.0.ai

Figure 7.8 showing the biodiversity hotspots on a global map, that will be submitted for the second external review as part of chapter 7 of the Hotspots assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	HA
Chapter	Ch7
Document type	figure
Short description	Fig 7.8 Global biodiversity hotspots
Version	v2.0.0

→ IPBES_HA_Ch7_figure_fig 7.8 Global biodiversity hotspots_v2.0.0.png

Table

The final version of table 5.4 that will be submitted for the first order draft for the Sea life assessment, containing a list of endangered marine animals:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	SLA
Chapter	Ch5
Document type	table
Short description	Table 5.4 Endangered marine animals
Version	v1.0.0

→ IPBES_SLA_Ch5_table_Table 5.4 Endangered marine animals_v1.0.0.docx

Table 7.11 showing the number of endangered species in biodiversity hotspots, that will be submitted for the third external review as part of chapter 7 of the Hotspots assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	HA
Chapter	Ch7
Document type	table
Short description	Table 7.11 Endangered species in hotspots
Version	v3.0.0

→ IPBES_HA_Ch7_table_Table 7.11 Endangered species in hotspots_v3.0.0.docx

Data Management Report

The first data management report for figure 4.1 of the invasive alien species assessment, uploaded to Zenodo before the submission for the first external review, would be:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	IAS
Chapter	Ch4
Document type	DMR
Short description	Fig 4.1 biodiversity versus water quality
Version	v0.0.0

→ IPBES_IAS_Ch4_DMR_Fig4.1 biodiversity versus water quality_v0.0.0.docx

The version of the data management report for figure 7.8 on the biodiversity hotspots map for the Hotspots assessment that will be submitted for the second external review as part of chapter 7 of the Hotspots assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	HA
Chapter	Ch7
Document type	DMR
Short description	Fig 7.8 biodiversity hotspots map
Version	v2.0.0

→ IPBES_HA_Ch7_DMR_Fig7.8 biodiversity hotspots map_v2.0.0.docx

Meeting report

Report about the third meeting to advance the summary for policymakers of the Sea life assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	SLA
Chapter
Document type	Meeting report
Short description	Third SPM meeting
Version	v1

→ IPBES_SLA__meeting report_Third SPM meeting_v1

Dialogue Workshop Report

The third version of a report on the dialogue meeting for Asia taking place after the second external review would be of the MR assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	MR
Chapter
Document type	Dialogue workshop report
Short description	Dialogue Asia
Version	v2.0.3

→ IPBES_MR_dialogue__dialogue report_Asia_v2.0.3.zip

Dataset

The references found during a systematic literature search on ILK and nature conservation for the Hotspots assessment:

Sections	Example
IPBES	IPBES
Assessment abbreviation	HA
Chapter
Document type	Dataset
Short description	References systematic literature search ILK and nature conservation
Version	v1

→ IPBES_HA__Dataset_References systematic literature search ILK and nature conservation_v1