To start using Record Cleaner go to the File upload page.
Record Cleaner allows you to upload a file of species records for
• validation - checking the format is correct
• verification - checking for consistency with rules such as where and when species are known to be found.
Your file must be in Excel (.xlsx) or CSV format and contain a header row with column names. Each row needs to contain at least the following columns:
• Taxon name or taxon version key. This identifies the organism that was observed. Where possible taxon names should be the scientific names; English names can be used but can be ambiguous. If you have taxon version keys (TVKs) available these provide the most unambiguous option.
• Observation date. This can be a specific date, or a date range. Read more.
• Spatial reference. The location on the observation. It can be a grid reference (UK, Ireland or Channel Islands), or latitude and longitude coordinates.
Record Cleaner also requires a Unique record ID number for each record, but if your file does not contain unique IDs, Record Cleaner can generate them by adding auto-numbering to each row in the file.
Additional columns can be included, such as:
• Stage. A stage term (such as “adult” or “larva”) will allow phenology rules to be applied to the appropriate stage (e.g. so that butterfly flight period rules are not used to check caterpillar records).
• Vice-county. Record Cleaner can carry out checks to see if your grid reference correctly overlaps the vice-county assigned to the record (based on the 1 km square for the record).
Known issues and updates at April 2025
- Some phenology (flight period) rules for overwintering species (mainly birds and moths) are currently being incorrectly applied (records that are in the correct period will be flagged as failing, while records that are in the incorrect period will pass). A fix is in progress.
- Rules for hoverflies are currently missing. These will be added shortly.
- Excel files can now be imported (the earlier problem with dates not being handled correctly ahs been corrected).
Background to this work
Record Cleaner has previously been available via the National Biodiversity Network as a standalone piece of software, using the same underlying rules as the current online version. The standalone software is still available from NBN but has not been updated recently and may not work under modern operating systems. The online version of Record Cleaner is intended to provide similar functionality into the future. This web interface on the BRC website uses the Record Cleaner API, which is also available for use more widely. Contact BRC for more information on how to access the API.
For more on the background to Record Cleaner, and a link to the standalone software, see: