Table 1.

Data elements used in OpenSpecimen.

Data Element	Description
Participant	Participant is not necessarily a patient. Participant is an individual from whom biospecimens are collected for research purposes.
Participant Registration	Participants registered to a research study (collection Protocol) for collection of clinical and biospecimen information.
Specimen Collection Group	A group of one or more biospecimens collected at a single point in time from a Participant registered to a research study. Typically referred to as a case or accession in anatomic pathology and as an encounter event in a clinical study or trial.
Specimen	A circumscribed piece of tissue or body fluid collected from Participant at a particular point in time.
Specimen Events/Procedures	Any action performed on a biospecimen is referred to as an event/procedure. (e.g. transfer, review of the biospecimen, freeze, thaw, fixed, disposal, spun).
Specimen Array	A collection of biospecimens arranged in an ordered pattern (e.g. a 96 well PCR plate).
Storage Container	A physically discrete container used to store a biospecimen (e.g. freezer, shelf, rack, and box).
Distribution	The act of distributing, spreading, or apportioning based on a set of written procedures describing what, how many, and how much of a biospecimen or biospecimens will be utilized for research. Biospecimens may be collected under one collection protocol and then later utilized by single or multiple studies.