Contribute to OpenConstruction

Add resources, improve metadata, or help build the platform. Start with a beginner-friendly contribution path, then review the policy details when you need them.

Ways to Help

Propose Resources

  • Add a dataset, model, workflow, or OER using the GitHub submission templates.
  • Share links, source metadata, and enough context for others to evaluate the resource.
  • Help fill gaps in tasks, modalities, and domains across AEC.

Improve Existing Records

  • Correct metadata, add missing licenses, improve links, and clarify abstracts or tags.
  • Strengthen discoverability by refining tasks, modalities, and structured fields.
  • Report broken links, outdated resources, or inconsistent labels.

Review and Steward

  • Review proposed additions for quality, attribution, and licensing completeness.
  • Help new contributors prepare submissions that are easier to merge and maintain.
  • Support module-level curation as the catalog grows.

Build the Platform

  • Contribute to schemas, validation scripts, benchmarks, UI improvements, and guides.
  • Help shape roadmap priorities through issues, discussions, and implementation work.
  • Active contributors may grow into longer-term stewardship roles.
Standards

Contribution Standards

  • Use the standardized metadata schemas so resources stay discoverable and interoperable.
  • Include a clear license and preserve attribution to original authors, institutions, and sources.
  • Provide descriptive titles, abstracts, tasks, modalities, and other structured metadata where applicable.
  • Respect privacy, consent, and ethical sharing expectations for any data-related contribution.
  • Platform contributions can also improve schemas, validation scripts, benchmarks, documentation, and interface quality.

Templates and validation scripts are available in the GitHub repository, and unclear cases can be discussed before submission.

Policies

Terms of Use and Contribution Policies

OpenConstruction is an open research infrastructure developed to support the discovery and reuse of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction digital resources.

OpenConstruction indexes publicly accessible research metadata and links to original sources. Unless explicitly noted otherwise, the platform does not host or redistribute third-party datasets, models, code, or paywalled publications.

Website source code, metadata schemas, documentation, and other project-owned software components are licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, unless otherwise noted.

Users may:

  • Access and use the platform for research, educational, and other lawful purposes.
  • Reuse project-owned code in accordance with the Apache 2.0 License.
  • Cite OpenConstruction in academic publications and derivative work.

Users may not:

  • Remove required attribution, copyright notices, or license notices.
  • Misrepresent authorship, ownership, affiliation, or endorsement.
  • Violate the license terms or access restrictions that apply to third-party resources linked through the platform.

Privacy

OpenConstruction may receive information you voluntarily provide through email, GitHub issues or discussions, or update-subscription forms embedded on the site.

That information is used only to operate the platform, respond to requests, coordinate community contributions, and send updates users explicitly request. OpenConstruction does not sell personal information.

Third-party services such as GitHub, DOI providers, CDNs, and mailing-list tools operate under their own policies and terms.

Data Usage

OpenConstruction indexes metadata about datasets, models, workflows, benchmarks, tools, and educational resources. Unless explicitly noted otherwise, the project does not claim ownership of the underlying third-party resources referenced by the catalog.

Rights to third-party datasets, models, images, publications, and linked resources remain with their original authors, creators, publishers, or providers.

Users are responsible for reviewing and following the license, access, and reuse terms selected by each original provider before downloading, reproducing, adapting, or redistributing linked content.

Citation

If OpenConstruction supports your research, please cite:

Xiong, R., Wang, Y., Cai, J., Liu, K., Zhu, Y., Tang, P., El-Gohary, N., and Gibson Jr, G. E. (2026). Toward open science in the AEC community: An ecosystem for sustainable digital assets sharing and reuse. Developments in the Built Environment, 26, 100909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2026.100909

Repository citation metadata is also available in CITATION.cff.

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