Unitized Data System: A new formalism for encoding and presenting data from the scientific research literature

We describe here a unitized data system (UDS) for a scientific database where descriptions of individual experimental steps are stored as separate text based subunits together with appropriate linking signals. The computer uses these links to generate for the end‐user self‐contained blocks of text each describing a single study. We present the entry into the database of both text and graphics from a scientific paper. We also give the corresponding data output. The system has the flexibility to organize reports from a wide variety of scientific studies. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.