Archive:Tutorial:Updating the yearbook

Timing and procedure

The Eurostat yearbook is an online publication which is part of Statistics Explained. Each article is updated according to its own (data release) calendar on a rolling basis. The annual release calendar is agreed upon between production units and Unit B4 (Digital dissemination) at the beginning of each calendar year.

Production units decide whether articles are to be updated or modified by themselves or by Unit B4 (with the assistance of its contractor). If Unit B4 is requested to initiate the update work, the production unit should indicate when data is available on Eurobase as well as any substantial change to be implemented (Contact: ESTAT-YEARBOOK@ec.europa.eu).

Step 1: Drafting

As the Eurostat Yearbook is part of Statistics Explained, it follows its general rules. Please follow the guidance given in the tutorials of Statistics Explained.

The presentation of data in articles of the Eurostat Yearbook should generally make more use of figures and maps, and less of tables. Users who need precise numerical data related to the figures can get it either directly from the attached Excel file or by using the provided links to the most up to date data on the Eurostat website.

All new articles and updates of articles should present the EU-28 (resp. EA-19) aggregate, if available. Data for EU-27 (resp. EA-18) may also be published alongside the EU-28 (resp. EA-19) data.

Make sure that you approve the page when finished ("Director/Editor approval" on the bottom of the draft article, see the Tutorial:How to create an article - validation).

The article will then be reviewed by Unit B4 who checks the compliance of the formatting and style of tables, figures and maps with Statistics Explained standards as well as the content of the article (coherence with figures in text and tables etc).

As regards new articles please pay particular attention to ensure that an Excel file containing all tables, figures (and data for the figures) and data for the maps is complete (containing also titles, subtitles, footnotes and sources) and attached (= uploaded) to the new article, see the Tutorial:How to create an article - insert links section Excel file.

Step 2: Review by production units

When articles are updated or revised by Unit B4, production units will be contacted when the work on an article has been completed. By this stage:

the text will have been reviewed/updated;
the Excel files will have been updated or revised, formatted and attached to the article. They will contain the English version of the tables and figures as well as German and French translations of labels in so far as they are available from previous editions or other available sources. Please check the German and French terminology and provide any comment or improvement proposal if needed.
the images of the updated tables and figures in the articles will not have been created. This will only be done once the content has been finalised.

This stage is an opportunity for production units to review an article (both text and Excel file) but normally not to change its content which should have been indicated before the launching of the update. Text should be changed directly in the draft page in Statistics Explained. Changes to the Excel files should be made directly in the Excel file and clearly identified through:

the use of coloured text (other than red which is reserved for missing translations);
and/or shading of cells;
and/or comment boxes describing clearly the changes.

The revised Excel file should replace the existing one.

The approval of the articles by a production unit is done by SIGHTING the DRAFT article in Statistics Explained.

Stage 3 of updating: finalisation of an article (English version)

Unit B4 and the contractor will review any feedback from production units. Any remaining issues will be addressed bilaterally between the production units and Pascal Wolff or Jukka Piirto.
The contractor will upload the final images for an article once the content has been finalised (final text in Statistics Explained and a final Excel file in English only attached to the article).
If needed, production units will be contacted a second time and asked to approve (=sight) again the draft article.
Pascal Wolff or Jukka Piirto will then perform the final checks from the point of view of the Disemination unit and if everything is OK he will validate (the update of) the article which thereby will become visible to the outside world.

Stage 4 of updating: translations of an article

This phase doesn't require any input from the production units.

After the update of an article has been finalised the translation input files will be prepared by the contractor: an English Word file containing the text of the article (in wiki format, i.e. with the mark-up code elements within the text) and the at least partly trilingual Excel file (together with the previus version's translation input files as reference files).
The Dissemination unit B4 will send the files to translation and agree with DG Translation on the translation deadlines.
All Eurostat yearbook articles are translated into German and French and a selection of them (17 articles) are translated in addition into all 19 other official EU languages than Irish and Maltese: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
The contractor will insert the translations into Statistics Explained.
The Dissemination unit will check and validate (--> publish) them.

Special notes for the updates or new articles

1) Reducing the presentation of data in tables and instead using more figures (graphs) and maps: Most users of the online Eurostat yearbook prefer information presented in visual rather than tabular form. Users who need precise numerical data related to the figures can get it either directly from the Excel file or by using the provided links to the freshest data on Eurostat website (= data codes given underneath the figures and maps as well as bookmarks given the Excel file to the specific, tailor-made extractions which were used to create each figure and map). Therefore the online Eurostat yearbook articles should have only a very reduced number of tables, if at all. Those articles which currently present data in several tables will be modified at the next update. This modification process is planned to be finalized by mid-2017. Each article will be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the production unit who owns the article. Sometimes presenting the data, which earlier has been presented in a table, in a nice visual form may require more the one figure or map.

2) Euro area aggregate: All new articles and updates of articles should present the EA-19 aggregate (Lithuania joined the euro area on 1.1.2015 as its 19th member), if available; data for EA-18 may also be published alongside the EA-19 data.

Help: Statistics Explained pages and contact persons

Overview of most important Statistics Explained tutorials

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General Statistics Explained help page

Editors of the online Eurostat yearbook: Pascal Wolff (tel. 33660) and Jukka Piirto (tel. 34251)
Statistics Explained: Louise Corselli-Nordblad (tel. 34088)

Statistics Explained courses can be organised on request. For individual specific questions please contact Louise Corselli-Nordblad.