This document discusses the Bioresource Research Impact Factor (BRIF) initiative. The BRIF aims to create standardized tools for citing bioresources in scientific literature in order to increase their visibility, assess their usage, and recognize the effort involved in establishing and maintaining them. It outlines barriers to sharing bioresources and incentives needed. It also describes the development of a guideline called CoBRA for standardized bioresource citation and an open access journal for describing bioresources. The presentation concludes by discussing next steps to implement standardized citation practices.

1. BRIF: Bioresource research impact
factor (framework)
Dr. Anne Cambon-Thomsen, CNRS DREM
UMR 1027 Inserm and Univ Toulouse III – Epidemiology & public health
Genotoul societal platform, Toulouse: « Genetics & society »
BBMRI-ERIC, Graz, Austria: Common Service ELSI
BioSHaRE conference LATEST TOOLS and SERVICES for DATA SHARING
July 28th, 2015 in Milan, Italy

2. from invisibility cloak to full screen
Bioresources under the invisibility cloak
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 2

3. 3
WHY?
not visible enough;
not acknowledged adequately;
difficult to trace;
difficult to assess their usage
reliably
Human bioresources are key
components of biomedical
research. Yet, their role is
underestimated and the work
provided to setting up and
maintaining a valid bioresource is
not recognized.
Cambon-Thomsen et al. Nat Genet 2003, 34:25–26
• biological samples with
associated data
(medical/epidemiological,
social),
• databases independent
of physical samples
• other biomolecular and
bioinformatics research
tools
BIORESOURCES (BR)
- lack of indicators describing
efficient usage and management of BR
- lack of a unique BR identification
system to trace them precisely
- lack of standards for BR citation in
the scientific literature
http://www.gigasciencejournal.com/content/2/1/7
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

4. Different levels to consider
• Data and bioresources in genomics
– essential
• What makes them being used? – Visibility,
accessibility and sharing, quality.
• What makes them being visible? – Infrastructures,
catalogues, description (metadata)
• What makes them being shared? – Scientific interest,
recognition, sustainability
• What makes them being cited/acknowledged ? -
MTA, DTA, agreements, methodology in articles,
collaboration good practice. No standard.
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5. What are the blocking factors of the shared
use of bioresources
• Technical ones (quality etc.)
• Institutional ones
– No exchange, sharing or access policy
– No practical help
– Cost
• Intellectual property ones
• Information ones
– No easily available information on content
– Restricted use to pre-defined professional circles
• No obvious positive spin off : incentives?
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6. Lack of incentives and tools
• The movement of open access
• Sharing policies versus collaborative practices
• Sharing is not just giving access: an active
process
• Harmonisation and diversity
• Tools for sharing are needed at various levels
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7. 7
Final objective:
The initiative
The Bioresource Research
Impact Factor initiative
Work in progress, currently developing a framework
for recognising the specific contribution of bioresources
to Research (in scientific literature)
To create tools that will:
- facilitate the practice of sharing policies for
data and samples
- promote a philosophy of sharing in the
biomedical community
Anne Cambon-Thomsen
Laurence Mabile
project manager
Contacts:
laurence.mabile@univ-tlse3.fr ,
anne.cambon-thomsen@univ-tlse3.fr
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

8. By creating a set of adequate standardized
tools:
•standards for citation / acknowledgement of
bioresources in scientific articles in order to
trace their use on the web
• BRIF indicator: a tool to establish frequency of
BR use and evaluate their impact based on
metrics and on the use of a unique digital
resource identifier
8
HOW?
The initiative
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

9. Objective: increase sharing
Purpose: recognition of the effort
involved in establishing, maintaining
and sharing resources
Challenge: how to overcome the feeling
of loss that may prevail
Idea: Transforming a loss into an advantage.
« The more it is shared, the more it contributes to
science, the more it is recognised »
Virtuous circle!
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 9
http://www.gen2phen.org/groups/brif-bio-resource-impact-factor
Currently being transferred to BBMRI-ERIC

10. Working subgroups
‘BRIF & Digital Identifiers’
co-chaired by G. A. Thorisson, University of Leicester, UK and P.A. Gourraud, University of California
SF, USA Pierreantoine.Gourraud@ucsf.edu
‘BRIF Parameters’
chaired by B. Parodi, National Inst. Cancer Res. Genoa, IT barbara.parodi@istge.it
‘BRIF in Access & Sharing Policies’
co-chaired by E. Rial-Sebbag, Inserm UMR1027, Toulouse, FR and J. Harris, Norwegian Institute of
Public Health, Oslo, Norway emmanuelle.rial@univ-tlse3.fr, Jennifer.Harris@fhi.no
‘BRIF and Journal Editors’
co-chaired by A. Cambon-Thomsen, Inserm UMR1027, Tlse, FR and
E. Bravo, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, IT
anne.cambon-thomsen@univ-tlse3.fr, elena.bravo@iss.it
‘BRIF dissemination’
chaired by L. Mabile, Inserm UMR1027, Tlse, FR laurence.mabile@univ-tlse3.fr
7BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

11. BioSHaRE BRIF pilot
• BioSHaRE BRIF pilot study formalised in the
« Publication policy » and available on the P3G
website in 2013
• Given first steps results and publication of the
CoBRA guideline, updated BioSHaRE BRIF pilot
study protocol in 2015
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12. ‘BRIF dissemination’ subgroup
► BRIF newsletters
► BRIF publications
► Conferences
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13. ACTIONS developed by the BRIF
Journal Editors’ subgroup
Sensitizing editors and their associations about BR issues
Dissemination of BRIF in international Science Edition
Conferences
13
Organize a restricted workshop addressed to Journal editors
and experts (Rome, June 21, 2013)
Work out a guideline for citation of bioresources
and publish it
Launching an open access journal for describing
bioresources with re-use potential
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14. STANDARD BIORESOURCE CITATION
BRIF workshop in Rome, June 2013
Poster Presentation in Chicago at Peer review congress September 2013
Publication in 2015 in BMC Medicine
14
BMC Medicine, 17 Feb 2014 : http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/13/33
Developing a guideline to standardize the citation
of bioresources in journal articles (CoBRA)
Elena Bravo1§, Alessia Calzolari1, Paola De Castro1, Laurence Mabile2, Federica
Napolitani1, Anna Maria Rossi1 and Anne Cambon-Thomsen2
1Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
2UMR U 1027, Inserm, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, FranceBioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

15. CoBRA checklist
Citation Of BioResources in scientific journal Articles
• Article text section Guidance
• Abstract Indicate whether the work has used one or more bioresources, and
specify the number of bioresources if relevant.
• Introduction Indicate that the work used one or more bioresources. Specify the type.
• Methods Report each individual bioresource used to perform the study:
- by their name and other ID, if extant, and
- by a single bibliographic reference.
• References Cite each bioresource used as follows:
• ID/Bioresource Name (acronym if available)/organisation or network
partnership/Number of access(es), Date of last access; [BIORESOURCE]
• Specifications for ID: Unique ID can be DOI (Digital Object Identifier), catalogue
number, or the name only.
• If the only ID is the name then add Town and Country.
• In the case of bioresources not used as a source of material for the study, but only
referred to, follow the citation format: ID/Bioresource Name (acronym if
available)/organisation or network partnershipBioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 15

16. Format of the bioresource reference
• Cite each bioresource used as follows:
• ID/Bioresource Name (acronym if available)/
organisation or network partnership/Number of
access(es), Date of last access; [BIORESOURCE]
• Specifications for ID:
– Unique ID can be DOI (Digital Object Identifier),
catalogue number, or the name only.
– If the only ID is the name then add Town and
Country.
• In the case of bioresources not used as a source of
material for the study, but only referred to, follow the
citation format: ID/Bioresource Name (acronym if
available)/organisation or network partnership
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17. BOX 1. Examples of how to cite a bioresource in the references of articles
- All examples assume that the bioresource was actively used to complete the research .
- Examples assume that two different accesses to the bioresource occurred, one on
March 3, 2013 and one on April 15, 2014.
- Examples 1, 2 and 3 assume that cited bioresources are committed to report their
partnership with BBMRI-ERIC.
- Acronyms will be added only in cases of consolidated use by the biobank.
Example 1: The bioresource has an ID and a consolidated acronym
Bioresource: Microisolates in South Tyrol Study (MICROS), Bolzano, Italy; ID: BRIF2155
Citation: BRIF2155; Microisolates in South Tyrol Study (MICROS); BBMRI-ERIC; No. Access:
2, Last: April 15, 2014. [BIORESOURCE]
Example 2: The bioresource has been described by a marker paper with a DOI, and has a
consolidated acronym
Bioresource: The Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank (ABCTB), Australia
Citation: Carpenter JE, Marsh D, Mariasegaram M and Clarke CL. The Australian Breast Cancer
Tissue Bank (ABCTB). Open Journal of Bioresources 1:e1; 2014. DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ojb.aa; No. Access: 2, Last: April 15, 2014. [BIORESOURCE]
Example 3: The bioresource does not have a DOI, nor an ID
Bioresource: BioBanca Istituzionale of Naples, Italy
Citation: BioBanca Istituzionale (BBI), Naples, Italy; BBMRI-ERIC; No. Access: 2, Last: April
15, 2014. [BIORESOURCE] 17BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

18. Launch of an open access data journal dedicated
to the publication of description of bioresources
“featuring peer-reviewed short papers helping
researchers to locate and cite bioresources with high
reuse potential. “
‘Open Journal of Bioresources’
http://openbioresources.metajnl.com/
Aim:
- Increase the visibility of bioresources by offering the
possibility of an open access “marker paper” ,
according to an established template of description
- Provides a bioresource with a DOI
Collaboration with Ubiquity Press
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19. Bioresource paper template for submission to the OJB
(1) Bioresource
Overview
(3) Bioresource
description
(2) Methods
(4) Reuse
potential
(5) Copyright Notice
19
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

20. Bioresource paper template for submission
to the OJB
(1) Bioresource
Overview
Title
Paper Authors
Paper Author Affiliations
Abstract
Project description
Classification
Keywords
Context: Spatial & temporal coverage
(3) Bioresource
description
Bioresource name
Bioresource location
Bioresource contact
Bioresource URL
Identifier used
Bioresource type
Type of sampling
Disease status of patients/source
Clinical characteristics of
patients/source: age, gender,
treatment information, etc.
Vital state of patients/source
Clinical diagnosis of patients/source
Pathology diagnosis
Control samples
Biospecimen type
Anatomical site
Release date
Access restrictions
(2) Methods
Steps
Stabilization/preservation
Type of long-term preservation
Storage temperature
Shipping temperature from
patient/source to preservation or
research use
Shipping temperature from storage to
research use
Quality assurance measures
Ethics Statement
Constraints
(4) Reuse potential
Acknowledgements
Funding statement
Author Roles
References
(5) Copyright Notice
20
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

21. • Infrastructures
• Professional
management
• Traceability not only of
samples/data for quality
or reproductibility
purposes, but
• Traceability of the uses of
the resources by
systematic standardised
citations
• Calculation of impact
through uses
• Recognition of the
resources as
contribution to science
• Specific publications for
describing resources
• Link between
contributors and
bioresources (e.g.
through ORCID)
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 21
Full screen

22. Next: implementation
What policy actions?
• A guideline that is not implemented is of no use
• What mechanisms: endorsement at various levels
– Institutional (Universities, national institutes,
infrastructures...)
– Scientific (Scientific consortia, scientific and
professional societies…)
– Editorial (instruction to authors, website of reference
guidelines to be used)
– Administrative : Inclusion of the reference to use
– Educational : good practices taught to PhD students
using bioresources
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23. Guideline in EQUATOR
• The EQUATOR network : http://www.equator-
network.org/
• Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health
Research
– Contains the major reporting guidelines internationally
recognised
– Editors frequently require such guidelines to be used in
manuscripts
– CoBRA was developed in contact with EQUATOR and now
appear on this website
http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-
guidelines/cobra/
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 23

24. Next steps
• Various actions of dissemination (Newsletters,
posters in scientific conferences, presentations)
• Two workshops in Toulouse
– Together with EASE (European Association of Science
Editors) – October 9, 2015 http://www.ease.org.uk/
”Editors as promoters of good practices in bioresource
research”
– Together with BBMRI-ERIC: December 4, 2015 : BRIF
workshop
« From identifiers, parameters and sharing policies,
towards metrics »
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25. Key points/conclusion
• To share or not to share: not anymore the question
• The question is facilitating and rewarding sharing
• Barriers to sharing : complex
• A key element is to cite what has been shared
• The recommendation CoBRA
• Necessity to use it also in MTA and DTA
• This rationalisation and standardisation of
bioresource citation is part of a chain of public
policies for the recognition of the various ways of
contributing to genomics research and to society
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15 25

26. Register to BRIF group at:
ubscribe to the BRIF Newsletter at:
http://listes.univ-tlse3.fr/wws/subscribe/brif.info
Contact us:
laurence.mabile@univ-tlse3.fr anne.cambon-thomsen@univ-tlse3.fr
26
THANK YOU!
BioSHaRE Conference, Milano 28/7/15

27. References used
• Bravo E, Calzolari A, De Castro P, Mabile L, Napolitani F, Rossi AM, Cambon-
Thomsen A. Developing a guideline to standardize the citation of
bioresources in journal articles (CoBRA). BMC Med. 2015;13(1):266.
• Bravo et al Citation of bioresources in biomedical journals: moving towards
standardization for an impact evaluation. European Science Editing
2013;39(2): 36-38.
• De Castro et al. Open Data Sharing in the Context of Bioresources. Acta
Inform Med. 2013, 21(4): 291-292.
• Mabile et al. Quantifying the use of bioresources for promoting their sharing
in scientific research. GigaScience 2013, 2:7.
• Cambon-Thomsen et al The role of a Bioresource Research Impact Factor as
an incentive to share human bioresources. Nature Genetics. 2011,
43(6):503-4.
• Kauffmann F., Cambon-Thomsen A. Tracing biological collections: between
books and clinical trials. JAMA, 2008;299(19): 2316-2318.
• Cambon-Thomsen A. Assessing the impact of biobanks. Nature Genetics
(Correspondence), 2003, 34, (1) : 25-26.
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