Why a peer-reviewed journal?

The IOC-OBPS team identified a strong need for a dedicated journal where scientists and practitioners can publish and access peer-reviewed research on Ocean Best Practices. Such a journal enhances the visibility, credibility, and dissemination of Best Practices across the global ocean community. It provides a dedicated journal for publishing methodologies, protocols, standards, and innovations spanning the entire ocean observing value chain, including observations, data management, and applications. By fostering the exchange of robust and interoperable methodologies, the journal contributes to improving observing capabilities, promoting harmonisation, and advancing interoperability across ocean observing systems.

OBPS joined forces with Frontiers to create a Research Topic entitled “Best Practices in Ocean Observing” in the Ocean Observation section of their journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The Research Topic covers the full range of ocean observing methodologies, including:

• The design of observatories (and observatory networks), logistics, and operations procedures (incl. deployment/recovery, procedures for Exclusive Economic Zone, notice to mariners, and others)
• Sensor design, calibration, metrology, instrument handling and application
• Measurement methodologies
• Methods and standards for hardware interoperability
• Data and information handling, quality control, and FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), including real-time (RT) and delayed mode (DM) data
• Data assimilation and model protocols
• Guidelines (formats, procedures, documentation) for observational and model data comparison strategies (e.g. Obs4MIPs; www.earthsystemcog.org/projects/obs4mips/)
• Creation of applications and information for users
• Knowledge transfer and capacity building (including script books for multimedia productions on best practices matters)

How to submit?

Register to Frontiers in Marine Science to begin your submission.

Please choose the category that is most appropriate for the content of your submission — the Research Topic also accepts several other article types (Brief Research Report, Community Case Study, Editorial, FAIR Data, General Commentary, Hypothesis and Theory, Opinion, Policy Brief, Systematic Review); see the full list on the Frontiers site.

We are committed to scientific ethics and aim to make the methods that articles are based on as transparent as possible. We therefore ask authors to:

• Provide persistent links to any data used in your article (e.g. a data DOI). Please ensure data is hosted in a trusted and sustained repository, and has complete metadata.
• Provide persistent links to Manuals, Standard Operating Procedures, or other full methodological documents your article refers to.

If you are submitting a manuscript that is considered a “Best Practice Document,” please add a section to the document outlining the process by which community agreement was achieved.

Publishing fees: Articles accepted for publication following peer review incur a publishing fee charged to authors, institutions, or funders. If publishing fees are a barrier to your submission, contact the editorial office at marinescience.submissions@frontiersin.org.

Submission deadline

The current submission deadline is 31 December 2026, with an extension deadline of 7 January 2027. This Research Topic is actively accepting articles, and deadlines are extended at regular intervals — check the Research Topic webpage for the latest date.

For further information, get in contact with the editorial team via the Research Topic webpage.