Changes based on review - Step 1

pages/Technical Documentation/Data/Contributing to the EarthCODE Catalog.md

@@ -3,58 +3,97 @@ order: 1
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 # Publishing Science Results
 
-The catalog functionalities described in the previous sections are granted to any user (registered/and non-registered users). Catalog exploration and content discovery and access to the products is fully open and transparent. In this section we will describe how to make new data accessible through the catalog and make them available for the broad scientific community.
+The ESA Open Science Data Catalogue provides free and open access to geoscience products for any user, without the need for authorization. By promoting FAIR and Open Science principles, this catalogue invites contributions from authorized users, enriching the scientific community with a diverse array of geospatial products. Contributions from users willing to share scientific outcomes and experiments help foster collaboration, innovation, and the continuous growth of scientific knowledge.
 
-:::tip :peanuts: STAC IN A NUTSHELL
-A STAC catalog is a structured, machine-readable collection of geospatial assets, described using JSON-based metadata records. It provides a standardized way to organize and link datasets, making it easy to search, access, and analyze geospatial data across different sources. A STAC catalog consists of collections (groupings of related datasets) and items (individual assets like satellite images or model outputs), with links connecting them for easy navigation and interoperability.
-:::
 
-### Who can contribute?
+## Who can contribute?
+Contributions to the Open Science Data Catalogue are vital for advancing FAIR Open Science Principles across ESA-funded Earth Science activities.  
+We would like to specifically encourage contributions from: 
 
-If you are an **ESA Project PI, Data Owner or OSC Admin** you can contribute to the content of the Open Science Catalog (OSC) in the following ways:
+- Principal Investigators of ESA EO (Earth Observation Programme) funded Projects, 
+- Researchers, Scientists, Data Owners working on ESA-funded EO Projects, 
+- Principal Investigators, Researchers and Scientists from ESA Science Cluster Projects, 
+- ESA Technical Officers leading ESA EO Projects 
+- ESA-ESRIN Science Hub Members (e.g. ESA post-doctoral Research Fellows, ESA Living Planet Fellowship, ESA Visiting Scientists) 
+- Wider EO Research and Science Community: contact the EarthCODE team at [earth-code@esa.int](mailto:earth-code@esa.int) for more details!
 
-- Result publishing by adding content to the OSC
-- Updating content (description of Products, Projects, etc.)
-- Request removal of existing entries
+### You can enrich EarthCODE in several impactful ways:
 
-**Other user requirements include:**
+- **Publish Research Products:** Add new content to the Open Science Data Catalogue. 
+- **Update content:** Keep the descriptions and metadata of products, projects, and more up-to-date. 
+- **Request removals:** Ensure the catalogue remains accurate by requesting the removal of outdated or incorrect entries. 
 
-- Only users with an active GitHub account are allowed to contribute to the catalog. In case of absence of GitHub account, please [create an account first.](https://github.com/join)
+To contribute, you to have an active GitHub account. If you don't have one yet, please [create an account](https://github.com/signup) to get started.
 
-### How to Publish Results
 
-In order to publish your results to the OSC, you need to create valid STAC and/or OGC API Record objects (a structure of JSON files) and upload these through a Pull Request to the [open-science-catalog-metadata](https://github.com/ESA-EarthCODE/open-science-catalog-metadata/tree/main) repository.
+## How to Publish Results
 
-In fact, in most cases you would need to create two separate STAC or Record objects:
-1. __Item catalog__ — A self-contained STAC catalog, typically hosted in your own public GitHub repository (__Accessible__).
-2. __Product, Workflow, or Experiment entry__  — The metadata record you upload to the OSC, linking to related Projects, Themes, Variables, and your external Item Catalog (__Findable__).
+The **Open Science Data Catalog** is a publicly accessible platform that enables anyone—whether or not they have a GitHub account—to **discover and access Earth Observation research**. It provides a transparent and structured way to explore the latest results from EO projects by organizing metadata in a consistent and harmonized format.
 
-::: details Why keep them separate?
-Earth observation research can generate large amounts of datasets with extensive metadata. Keeping data assets separate ensures faster __loading, less clutter, and a consistent access method__, while the OSC remains focused on structured metadata.
-:::
+Built on the open-source **STAC Browser**, the catalog allows users to browse and explore interlinked elements such as **themes, variables, EO missions, projects, products, workflows, and experiments**, all described using **STAC-compliant JSON files**.
 
-If you are new to using STAC, git, or both, this can be an intimidating process, but luckily there are many tools available to more or less automate this process depending on your setup. Check out the [OSC examples](../../../examples/index-1) for an overview.
+---
 
-__Typical workflow for uploading a product to OSC:__
-1. Upload your data to a persistent remote storage (e.g. ESA's Project Results Repository (PRR), an object storage (S3) bucket, Zenodo, etc.).
-2. Create the Item Catalog, with links to your assets in the remote storage.
-3. Create an OSC product entry, with a link to your Item Catalog.
+### What You Need to Publish
 
+To publish your scientific results to the Open Science Catalog, you must:
 
-## Step 1: Uploading your data to a remote storage
+- Create valid **STAC** and/or **OGC API Record** objects (in JSON format).
+- Submit a **Pull Request** to the [open-science-catalog-metadata-**staging**](https://github.com/ESA-EarthCODE/open-science-catalog-metadata-staging/tree/main) repository with your new entry.  
 
-To share your data, it must be __openly accessible via the cloud__. How you achieve this depends on your use case. If your data is already hosted by a cloud storage provider, there's no need to duplicate it, simply use those links. The key requirement is that the data is __publicly available and persistent__ (i.e., it won't be deleted).
+---
 
-If your data isn't in the cloud or its persistence is uncertain, the recommended process is to request access to the official
-[ESA PRR](https://eoresults.esa.int/data_provider_guide.html#) and upload it there following the described procedure.
-After requesting a data provider account you need to request a PRR collection which is used in the next steps as the STAC Item Catalog.
+### Preparing Your Research for Publication
 
-Alternatively there is also an object storage bucket maintained by the EarthCODE team that can be used to persistently store data.
-Feel free to [contact the EarthCODE team](https://earthcode.esa.int/contact) to discuss available options.
+To make your research outcomes accessible and discoverable by the broader scientific community, follow these steps:
 
+1. **Create Your Product Package (Research Experiment)**  
+   This includes:
+   - **Dataset files**
+   - **Code**
+   - **Documentation**
 
-## Step 2: Creating and uploading a STAC Item Catalog
+   All of these should be *accessible*, meaning they are stored on **remote, persistent storage** that allows discovery and access. Examples include:
+   - ESA’s Project Results Repository (PRR)
+   - S3-compatible object storage (e.g. ESA S3 Bucket)
+   - Zenodo, CEDA, Dataverse, or other persistent archives
+
+
+2. **Generate a Self-Contained STAC Catalog**  
+   - Use tools like [`stactools`](https://stactools.readthedocs.io/en/stable/), [`rio-stac`](https://github.com/developmentseed/rio-stac), or [`PySTAC`](https://pystac.readthedocs.io/en/stable/) to generate a STAC Catalog.
+   - Host the resulting JSON files (Catalog + Items) in a **public GitHub repository** (or institutional equivalent).
+   ::: warning Important
+    Make sure the Catalog uses **relative paths** and points to remote asset URLs!
+   :::
+
+
+3. **Describe Your Research in the Open Science Catalog**  
+   - Create entries that describe your **dataset, workflow, and experiment**.
+   - Link them to relevant **projects, variables, themes, and EO missions**.
+   - Include a `related` link to your external STAC Catalog to ensure it is discoverable from the Open Science Catalog.
+
+By following these steps, your research becomes part of a broader ecosystem of reusable, discoverable, and connected scientific outputs.
 
+## Step 1: Make Your Data Accessible  
+
+To contribute to the Open Science Catalog, your research data must be openly accessible and persistent. Begin by preparing your **Research Experiments**, which includes:  
+- **Data files** , which will be added to the Item Catalog. 
+- **Workflow** (e.g., Jupyter Notebooks, Python scripts, CWL records)  
+- **Documentation** (e.g., links to peer-reviewed publications or public product descriptions)  
+
+All of these components should be **publicly available and stored on persistent platforms**—meaning they should not be tied to your local machine or a temporary location.  
+
+If your data is already hosted on a reliable cloud storage provider (e.g., Zenodo, CEDA, an institutional repository, or S3), you can use those links directly.  
+
+If your data is not yet in the cloud or its persistence is uncertain, we recommend uploading it to the official **ESA Project Results Repository (PRR)**. To do this:  
+1. Request a data provider account.  
+2. Then, request a PRR collection, which will be used in later steps to define your STAC Item Catalog.  
+
+::: details Requesting PRR Storage
+At the moment, requests to store data on ESA PRR is done by the ESA PLES engineering team. If you need to request permanent storage, contact the team at [earth-code@esa.int](mailto:earth-code@esa.int)
+:::
+
+## Step 2: Creating and uploading a STAC Item Catalog
 ### Description
 
 The purpose of the STAC Item Catalog is to collect metadata and references to your assets in a format that can be easily reused by other scientists and automated workflows, and displayed correctly in the Open Science Catalog.