Marketplace is the main catalogue for research outputs such as datasets, publications, tools, services, and related digital objects. It is both a discovery surface and, later, the place where contributor workflows begin. For most users, the discovery path starts with filters, card or list views, exports, and previews, then moves into a structured resource detail page with metadata, files, references, and discussion.

In HORTUS, the Marketplace — also referred to in some interface areas as the Resources Catalog — is the platform’s structured catalogue for research outputs. A resource is the fundamental scholarly object inside this catalogue. It is not just a file, and it is not just a bibliographic entry. A Marketplace resource is a curated, described, reusable, and potentially citable research record that can represent many kinds of academic outputs, including publications, datasets, images, media objects, software tools, digital services, and other research materials. The Marketplace is designed to make these outputs findable and reusable within a single catalogue, while keeping a clear connection to the people, projects, metadata, and licences that give them meaning.

For the researcher/user, this means that the Marketplace is one of the most important places in HORTUS. It is the space where a research question can become a discovery process. You may arrive with only a topic in mind — a corpus, a method, a geographic area, a type of source, a digital tool, or a publication theme — and the Marketplace gives you a structured way to move from that question to concrete material. It helps you browse by resource type, search by keyword, filter results, sort them, save searches, export result lists, and then open each resource in detail to understand whether it is useful for your own work.

A Marketplace resource serves four major functions at the same time.

First, it is a discovery object. Resources are the units through which scholars find the actual intellectual and digital outputs produced by the community. Instead of navigating through isolated files or disconnected repositories, users can work inside one catalogue that groups materials in a coherent way. Resource types provide a first level of orientation, allowing users to enter the catalogue through a meaningful category and then progressively narrow their search. This makes the Marketplace especially useful for researchers who are building a corpus, reviewing existing materials before starting a new project, or exploring how others have described similar outputs.

Second, it is a description and interpretation object. A Marketplace resource is valuable because it does not expose only the object itself, but also the information that helps a researcher understand it. A resource record may include a title, abstract, authors, publication date, language, licence, keywords, project association, and one or more metadata sets. When you open a resource detail page, you move from a short search result into a richer interpretive space: the Overview helps you understand the narrative and purpose of the item, the Metadata tab helps you inspect structured descriptive fields, the Documents tab gives access to files and links, the References tab supports bibliographic use, and the Discussions tab creates room for community interaction. In this sense, the Marketplace does not simply store outputs — it explains them, contextualizes them, and makes them academically usable.

Third, it is a dissemination object. For contributors, the Marketplace is the main channel through which research results become visible to the wider community. A contributor can create a new resource, describe it with structured metadata, attach one or more files or links, relate it to a project, and prepare it for publication. This makes the Marketplace not only a discovery surface for readers, but also a publication and dissemination surface for authors and maintainers. It is where outputs move from private preparation to community visibility. That is why the Marketplace matters so much inside HORTUS: it is the place where research outputs become shareable, discussable, and reusable beyond the boundaries of a single team.

Fourth, it is a governed workflow object. A resource in HORTUS follows a structured lifecycle. New resources are not necessarily public from the beginning. The creation workflow is designed to support gradual refinement: the contributor enters core information, may add source references by DOI or manual entry, chooses a metadata type and metadata set, fills the required fields, saves the item as a Draft, enriches it with files or links, improves the narrative structure, and then sends it to moderation. After that, the item may move into a Pending status while waiting for review. This lifecycle is extremely important for users, because it shows that Marketplace resources are not random uploads. They are part of a controlled scholarly process that supports quality, consistency, and responsible publication.

This governed logic is one of the main reasons why a Marketplace resource should be understood as more than a digital file. A file may exist anywhere. A Marketplace resource exists inside a scholarly environment. It has authorship, description, status, metadata, and relationships. It may be linked to a project, related to a maintainer, followed by users, discussed by the community, and exported outward for wider dissemination. This makes the resource both a content object and a research communication object. It is designed not only to exist, but to circulate in a meaningful way.

The maintainer is the person responsible for the resource record. In practice, maintainers are the users who can usually edit the resource, upload files, improve the overview, and send the item to moderation. This means that every resource has an identifiable stewardship logic. For the reader, this is reassuring, because it means the record is not anonymous. For the wider community, it creates a visible link between content and scholarly accountability.

Another key concept is the metadata set. The Marketplace does not treat all outputs as if they were identical. Different kinds of resources may require different descriptive structures, and the platform can ask the contributor to choose a standard, personal, or community metadata type and then fill the corresponding metadata set. This is important because it supports better discovery, better interpretation, and better interoperability. A resource is described in a way that increases its future reuse. This is also one of the reasons why the Marketplace contributes to FAIR-oriented research practice in HORTUS.

From the researcher’s point of view, a Marketplace resource becomes particularly valuable from the detail page. That is where a search result becomes a research decision. The user can read the overview, examine the metadata, access attached materials, verify the licence, consult references, and decide whether the resource should be cited, reused, downloaded, discussed, or shared with others. This is the moment where the Marketplace stops being only a catalogue and becomes a working research tool. A doctoral candidate may use it to identify a dataset or digital source for a chapter. A senior researcher may use it to compare records, verify provenance, or assess whether an output can be integrated into a larger corpus or project.

Marketplace resources also support lightweight scholarly interaction. Users may favourite or follow a resource, save relevant searches, share a resource link with colleagues, or use the Discussions tab to ask questions and interact with maintainers. These functions matter because they extend the resource beyond its descriptive record. A resource can become the starting point of a conversation, the anchor for a reading list, or the object around which a small research exchange develops. In that sense, the Marketplace supports not only access, but also scholarly circulation.

For contributors, the Marketplace is attractive because it offers a clear path from preparation to publication. The workflow is structured enough to guide the contributor, but flexible enough to support different forms of input. A new resource may begin from direct manual entry, from a DOI, or from another supported route. Once the main information and metadata are in place, the contributor can continue to enrich the record with attached resources, narrative paragraphs, and links before sending it to moderation. After submission, the contributor can track the status in My Workspace and My Contributions, which makes the publication lifecycle visible rather than opaque. This transparency is essential in a professional research environment.

A further strength of Marketplace resources is their ability to support outward dissemination. Where enabled, a resource may offer citation tools, sharing actions, result-list export, and even an Export path to other research platforms (e.g. Zenodo). This means that the Marketplace does not only help users discover content within HORTUS; it can also help contributors extend the visibility of their outputs beyond HORTUS. This outward-facing dimension is important because it connects platform publication with wider scholarly communication and repository ecosystems.

For a young researcher, the Marketplace can be one of the most attractive features of HORTUS. It reduces the distance between interest and access. Instead of already needing to know the right project, the right person, or the right repository, the user can start from an idea, browse resource types, test keywords, refine filters, and discover concrete material quickly. At the same time, the richness of each resource page helps the user learn not only what an output is, but also how it should be understood, cited, reused, or connected to other research activity. This makes the Marketplace especially powerful as both a discovery environment and a learning environment.

A good way to think about a Marketplace resource in HORTUS is this:

A RESOURCE IS HORTUS’ CORE UNIT OF SCHOLARLY DISSEMINATION AND REUSE.

It is the place where a research output becomes FAIR, discoverable, described, discussable, governable, and reusable within a wider community.

In practical terms, a Marketplace resource may include:

• a public title and abstract
• one or more authors
• a maintainer responsible for the record
• publication date and language
• a licence that clarifies reuse conditions
• a resource type that places the item in the catalogue
• keywords that improve discoverabilityù
• an optional project association
• one or more metadata sets that structure the description
• attached files, workspace items, or external linksù
• a discussion area for community exchange
• bibliographic references
• citation tools
• sharing, favourite, and follow actions
• a lifecycle state such as Draft or Pending
• optional dissemination actions such as export to external repositories where enabled

Taken together, these elements make Marketplace resources central to HORTUS. They are not only pieces of content. They are the platform’s main way of turning research outputs into visible, structured, reusable, and community-connected scholarly objects

At the discovery stage, treat Marketplace as the place where structured records become understandable. The stronger the metadata and project links are, the easier the resource is to find and reuse later.