IGSN

IGSN — originally the International Geo Sample Number, now maintained under the broader name International Generic Sample Number to reflect adoption beyond earth science — is a globally unique, persistent identifier for physical samples: geological specimens, environmental samples, biological specimens, and sub-samples or composite collections derived from them. It supports tracking and citing a physical sample through everything that later happens to it — subsequent analyses, publications, and any digital datasets derived from it — the same way a DOI lets a digital dataset be cited and tracked.

Governance and the DataCite partnership

IGSN was originally launched (2011) under the System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR) together with the IGSN e.V. association, which governs the standard and its associated metadata schema. In September 2021, IGSN e.V. and DataCite entered a formal partnership under which DataCite now provides IGSN ID registration services and the underlying resolution technology — an IGSN ID is technically minted as a DataCite DOI by an authorised IGSN allocator, while the IGSN brand, its own metadata profile, and its physical-sample-specific governance model (IGSN e.V.’s “Community of Communities”) are preserved. This gives IGSN the benefit of DataCite’s established DOI resolution and metadata infrastructure without abandoning the sample-specific identifier scheme researchers already used.

What qualifies for an IGSN, and what doesn’t

An IGSN-eligible object is a physical thing: a rock core, a water sample, a soil sample, a biological specimen, or a defined sub-sample/aliquot of a larger collection. A digital dataset derived from analysing that sample is a separate object, typically identified by its own DOI rather than an IGSN — the two identifiers are meant to be linked (dataset DOI referencing the source sample’s IGSN), not merged into one. An internal museum or lab accession number is not itself an IGSN unless it has actually been registered with an IGSN allocator; having an internal tracking number is not equivalent to having minted a global, resolvable identifier.

Worked example / counter-example

A rock core collected during a research expedition is registered with an allocator such as SESAR, receiving an IGSN with associated metadata (borehole depth, collection coordinates, collecting expedition), and every subsequent geochemical dataset derived from that core cites the IGSN as its source-sample identifier. By contrast, a museum’s own internal specimen catalogue number, never submitted to an IGSN allocator, is not an IGSN and will not resolve through IGSN/DataCite infrastructure, however systematically the museum manages it internally.

References

• Klump, J., Lehnert, K. et al., “IGSN: International Geo Sample Number — A Global Identifier for Physical Samples,” Data Science Journal, 2021.
• IGSN e.V. (igsn.org); DataCite-IGSN partnership announcement, September 2021.