Improving the discoverability of research methods and workflows: a deliverable report for the AMPLIFY-EDS project

Environmental science research increasingly produces diverse digital outputs such as software, workflows, and models that are foundational to established research outputs (datasets, articles). These newer digital research outputs must be discoverable and reusable by humans and machines to maximise impact.

To address this, we evaluated the suitability of existing metadata standards (CFF, RO-Crate, Bioschemas) for describing methods and workflows and developed the Digital Objects Ontology (DOO), a linked-data-based metadata schema that enables rich descriptions and connections between research outputs.

These initiatives collectively strengthen metadata practices, improve discoverability, and support the NERC community in delivering transparent, reusable, and impactful research outputs. They are the first, vital step in making FAIR methods.